Indian Queen (25 February 1985 – July 2000) was a British

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse best known for winning the

Ascot Gold Cup The Gold Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 2 miles 3 furlongs and 210 yards (4 ...

on her final racecourse appearance.

Background

Indian Queen was a chestnut mare bred by her owner Sir Gordon Brunton at the North Munstead Stud. She was sired by Electric out of Taj Princess (Taj Dewan). She was trained by the then Royal trainer

William Hastings-Bass, 17th Earl of Huntingdon William Edward Robin Hood Hastings-Bass, 17th Earl of Huntingdon, (born 30 January 1948), is an English hereditary peer and former racehorse trainer to Queen Elizabeth II. He was a member of the House of Lords from 1990 to 1999. Early life Ha ...

, at

West Ilsley West Ilsley is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. The population of the village at the 2011 United Kingdom Census, 2011 Census was 332. Location and amenities It is situated in West Berkshire, north of Newbury, Berkshire, Newbur ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. Indian Queen died at age 15 after an accident in the paddocks at North Munstead Stud at

Godalming Godalming ( ) is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settl ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, in July 2000. She was two weeks in foal to Hector Protector when she died.

Racing career

Indian Queen earned a reputation for winning over long distances. She began her career in France and won a victory at

Cagnes-sur-Mer Cagnes-sur-Mer (, literally ''Cagnes on Sea''; ) is a French Riviera town near Nice that is in the Alpes-Maritimes department, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in southeastern France. Geography Cagnes-sur-Mer is a town in southeaste ...

. She was the winner of a number of Group class races including a

dead heat A dead heat is a rare situation in various racing sports in which the performances of competitors are judged to be so close that no difference between them can be resolved. The result is declared a tie and the competitors are awarded a joint ra ...

with Braashee in the

Prix Royal-Oak The Prix Royal-Oak is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 3,100 metres (about 1 mile and 7½ furlongs), an ...

at Longchamp in 1990, and gained outright victory, as a rank outsider at 25–1, in the 1991

Ascot Gold Cup The Gold Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 2 miles 3 furlongs and 210 yards (4 ...

whilst in foal to

Night Shift The shift plan, rota or roster (esp. British) is the central component of a schedule (workplace), shift schedule in shift work. The schedule includes considerations of shift overlap, shift change times and alignment with the clock, vacation, train ...

. On both occasions she was ridden by

Walter Swinburn Walter Robert John Swinburn (7 August 1961 – 12 December 2016) was a flat racing jockey and trainer who competed in Great Britain and internationally. Biography Swinburn was born in Oxford. He was the son of Wally Swinburn, who won t ...

. She beat Arzanni ridden by

Frankie Dettori Lanfranco "Frankie" Dettori (; born 15 December 1970), is an Italian jockey who was based in England for a career spanning over 35 years. He was British flat racing Champion Jockey three times (1994, 1995 and 2004) and rode the winners of 287 ...

in a thrilling finish to claim her Gold Cup triumph.

Stud record

Indian Queen was retired following her Gold Cup win. Then she served as broodmare. Her daughter, Royal Patron, won several races.

References

1985 racehorse births 2000 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom {{Racehorse-stub