Through the centuries Newmarket has gladly welcomed many Kings and Queens, even before the town was known by its present name. Long before the Stuart monarchs brought horseracing here, tournaments were held on Newmarket Heath. Medieval royalty and nobility thronged around the town. However, none of those previous monarchs was ever given a statue as a memorial of their presence here. The closest any monarch came to this is the commemorative plaque for King Edward VII on the Memorial Hall, now the residence of Newmarket Town Council.
Even before Queen Elizabeth II’s very long reign began in 1952, Her Majesty loved horses and horseracing. She has long enjoyed the “Sport of Queens” (and Kings!) and has taken a keen interest in the breeding of Thoroughbreds. Over the decades she and her family have done much to promote both the sport and bloodstock interests both by their patronage and by the promotion of research and development in veterinary science. Over the years, the knowledge gained from Newmarket’s unique “Equine Hub” and its remarkable equine hospitals and (sadly gone) Animal Health Trust, has internationally benefitted equine and other veterinary medicine, especially in poorer countries where veterinary research and development are not always possible.
Of course, over the decades, Queen Elizabeth has been a frequent visitor to Newmarket and its races but she is also an effective unofficial “ambassador” for British horseracing and bloodstock matters. Therefore, it is little wonder that Newmarket set up a statue in her honour, unveiled in 2016. Called “The Queen and Her Horses” it stands at the junction of Cambridge Road and Hamilton Road, near the Rowley Mile Racecourse. Created in honour of the Queen’s 90th birthday, her bronze statue was the work of Etienne Millner and Charlie Langton created the horses. The figures are 120% life size.
Newmarket has never before had a statue of a monarch, although there are several statues of horses in and around the town. In fact, there are only two other portrayals of people. One is Gillon Aitkin, the groom with “The Newmarket Stallion” on the July Course roundabout. The other man is unnamed and appears in the mural of a rearing horse by Geoffrey Wickham, “The Lunging Rein”, which is on the wall overlooking the Market Square at the end of the Guineas shopping centre.
As we approach Newmarket’s celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s remarkable Platinum Jubilee it is good to recall that she said on her 21st birthday in 1947: “I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service”. A woman of her word.
Newmarket Local History Society meets on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 7.30 pm
History
The Queen and Her Horses
