There were celebrations at Windsor Castle on Tuesday afternoon after The Queen won her first race in many months.
Despite racing only returning to the UK on Monday, Her Majesty has already had a winner as her horse, First Receiver, won in the royal colours at Kempton.
The monarch’s horse won easily, with the racecourse commentator saying he “put daylight between himself and his rivals” as he passed the finishing post with no competitors in sight.
The three-year-old bay colt is trained by Sir Michael Stoute and was ridden to victory by jockey Ryan Moore.
But as Her Majesty’s horse passed the finishing post, there were no huge crowds cheering on the winner. Instead an eerie silence surrounded the racecourse due to the meeting being held behind closed doors.
The sport of kings was forced to come to a standstill on March 17 due to the ongoing public health emergency.
After a 76-day hiatus, the government gave permission for horse racing to return behind closed doors on Monday at Newcastle.
Due to strict public health restrictions, only people essential to the running of the sport and the wellbeing of its competitors are allowed to enter racecourses, meaning owners like Her Majesty are forced to watch on television from home.
