During her visits to the Australian turf, Queen Elizabeth II gave a supporting hand to a trainer but grimaced at the touch of a prime minister.
Normally, she was as comfortable in a racing environment, but the 1988 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Canberra was an exception, according to Bart Cummings, who was on speaking terms with her majesty.
Bart Cummings with Queen Elizabeth II at a lunch in Canberra in 2011.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
At the time, Cummings had boom three-year-old Beau Zam, who he described as “a superstar who mixed with royalty”.
“Princess Anne was visiting and asked to ride him trackwork. I happily gave her a turn,” Cummings wrote in Bart – My Life. “Her mother got to meet him, too, in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Canberra. Her majesty seemed interested in talking with me about racing, but she was distracted.
“One of the more memorable episodes of the day was that Bob Hawke, the prime minister, had a habit of putting his hand on her elbow or arm or back, and her majesty was far from amused.
“Either he didn’t know that you were not meant to touch the Queen or that was just his way around women and he couldn’t help himself.
Bart Cummings and Queen Elizabeth II before the 1988 Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Canberra, won by Cummings’ Beau Zam.Credit:Bruce Miller
“Whichever it was, a big scowl came across the Queen’s face as she was trying to talk to somebody or watch races. You didn’t know why she was looking so sour until you looked behind her or to her side, and there was Hawkie with his hand on her again.
“There’s even a photo of me beside Her Majesty watching the race with [wife] Valmae and [owner] Jack Eastgate behind us and the Queen looks like she’s bitten into a lemon. If you look to the side of the picture, there’s a male hand grabbing the Queen’s elbow. Guess who?”
No doubt the 1954 inaugural Queen Elizabeth Stakes, won by outsider Blue Ocean, at Randwick was a more comfortable occasion for her majesty.
Blue Ocean was trained by Harry Darwon – a Kensington personality when the racing suburb had more characters than Runyon’s Broadway – who answered to “Aitch”. When invited to go to the official presentation, Aitch was taken aback.
“So out I goes to meet all the dignitaries,” he related. “They are all standing in a circle. For a second, the thought flashed through my mind, ‘It looks like a two-up game’.”
Aitch had progressed Blue Ocean from a country picnic horse who sired polo ponies as a sideline to victory over top-liners Carioca, Hydrogen and Advocate on the day.
Yes, he started at 66/1, but Aitch gave him a chance to the degree he practised bowing for a week. Thus, when he was presented to her majesty, he appeared elegant and gracious. Sir Walter Raleigh wasn’t in the same class.
However, when in the grove, he bowed to the Duke Of Edinburgh, jockey Arthur Podmore and even the man with the dustbin who follows the horses. He appeared to set a record for holding her hand. “No,” Aitch told me. “I was trembling so much The Queen held my hand to steady me.”
Again, hands played a role in 1960 when the Queen shared the front page of the Sun-Herald. “Queen Waits Calmly” was the headline regarding the pending arrival of her third child, while “Big Crowd Runs Wild”, written by Bill Whittaker, referred to the 50,346 – including this writer – who packed into Harold Park for the Interdominion, won by Caduceus. Sardines were comfortable by comparison.
The hand? Well, a punter punched a hole in a fibro wall to see the race and others followed suit, tearing fibro from wooden framework behind one of the stands. “She’s fine,” Prince Phillip said competing for space. “Very fit indeed”.
