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Queen Elizabeth II, 94, will be glued to the television this week as Royal Ascot 2020 is held behind doors. Yesterday, there will have been jubilation at Windsor Castle as the Queen’s horse Tactical won the Windsor Castle Stakes at 4.10pm. The victory will have been particularly sweet for the Queen because Tactical is a horse she bred and trained from birth.

The Queen is one of the biggest racehorse breeders and owners in Britain and takes an enormous interest in every aspect of her horses care.

Speaking in the wake of Tactical’s win on Wednesday, the Queen’s racing manager John Warren revealed how the Queen is up to date with every detail regarding her horses and even watches foals being born on her iPad.

Mr Warren told the Guardian: “I suspect deep down there might have been a tinge of disappointment that she’s not there.

“But it was completely over-ridden by the fact that she’d actually had the winner.”

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Tactical is the Queen’s 24th Royal Ascot winner and the first of the Queen’s horses to win at Royal Ascot since 2016.

Mr Warren explained that while the Queen will be sad not to attend Royal Ascot this year she will have been studiously reading the Racing Post every day and been extremely well informed about all the horses running.

Mr Warren added: “It’s obviously a great shame that her Majesty’s not there to be able to go down and enjoy the whole buzz of her runners.

“But she’s studied every bit of it today, watching the races, and the last two days, she’s been able to spend a bit of time watching the most important races, so this was the icing on the cake to actually have a winner.”

Mr Warren said racing is the Queen’s “great passion” and that she follows it in some way every day.

He added: “Every day of her life, she follows racing one way or another when she can, so she would have read the Racing Post in great detail and built up to this week, and known very well the important fancied horses.

“When she watches the racing, she’s fully up to date with the horses’ backgrounds, who trains them, who’s riding them and a lot about the horses and the way they’re bred, because that’s her great passion, the breeding.”

Asked about whether they had spotted Tactical’s potential from the start, Mr Warren said: “Andrew [Balding, Tactical’s trainer] had been saying since the spring that the horse was naturally precocious and had been finding his work terribly easy, so it looked as though he was a nice prospect.”

During lockdown, the Queen has been unable to visit her horses as she would usually like to but has been kept up to date with photos and videos.

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When her schedule allows, the Queen has even managed to watch foals being born at her stud, which she can live stream on her iPad.

Mr Warren added: “Every mare that retires to stud, there’s significant consideration on how she is to be mated and how the resulting foals are to be reared and developed.

“[The stud managers] keep the Queen very informed, more so with photography recently because she’s been unable to go and see the stock.

“She even watches them being born on the iPad if it’s the right time of the evening.

“Breeding one and following it through all its issues and humps and bumps in the road [means] she’ll get special enjoyment out of breeding this.”

The Queen has been unable to attend Royal Ascot for the first time in her 68-year-reign but penned a moving message to racing fans everywhere which was printed in the Royal Ascot 2020 race card.

The Queen’s message read: “I send my best wishes to the thousands of racing professionals and enthusiasts who will join me in celebrating this year’s Royal Ascot.

“In these challenging times, we are once again delighted to welcome the best horses and jockeys from across the world and pay tribute to those who have helped make this race meeting possible.

“This year Ascot will feel different for many, as it is so often a chance for friends, families and colleagues to gather together and enjoy a shared passion.

“I am sure, however, that with the valiant efforts of the organisers, owners, trainers and stable staff, it will remain one of Britain’s finest sporting occasions and a highlight of the racing calendar.

“To everyone attending Royal Ascot, in person or virtually, I hope you have a most enjoyable and unique week of racing.”

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