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The
Queen made an official visit to Prestbury Park this year for the
Gold Cup - and to unveil a bronze bust of her mother, who was a
regular visitor to the Cheltenham Festival.
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| The
Queen attended the Festival months before her coronation |
Racecourse
officials and the Press Association had claimed that her 2003 Gold
Cup Day visit was her first as sovereign.
They
reported that she last attended the Cheltenham Festival in 1951
when she was still Princess Elizabeth.
But
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Gloucestershire breakfast show presenter Vernon Harwood uncovered
a previously unrecorded visit while looking through some old newsreel
footage from the 1950s.
The
film clearly proves that the Queen actually last visited Prestbury
Park in her coronation year, 1953.
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| Angela
Conner's bronze bust of the Queen Mother |
She
was accompanied by the Queen Mother, a keen National Hunt fan and
owner who attended the Festival almost every year until her death
last year.
As
an owner, the Queen Mother had 445 victories over jumps, putting
her second in the all-time list.
The
Gold Cup winner in 1953 was the nine-year-old, Knock Hard, ridden
by Tom Molony.
A ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½
Radio Gloucestershire listener recalled the Queen's 1953 visit after
Vernon Harwood's on-air revelation.
She
said: "She was with the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort and they
watched the race from the water jump on the back of a Land Rover."
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