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04
Jun 2022
Derby Day and Ripon's royal connection to the world's greatest horserace
Away from the the sights and sounds of the platinum jubilee celebrations across the Harrogate district, it's a fitting day to remember another royal connection from the Ripon area that goes directly to the Queen, via her great great grandmother, Queen Victoria.
It was Derby Day on Epsom Downs and the world's most famous race grabbed national and international attention, with the easy winner and 5-2 favourite, Desert Crown, trained by Sir Michael, destined to earn a fortune at stud.
On the boundary wall at the Parish Church of St Lawrence in Aldfield — between Ripon and Fountains Abbey — there is a blue plaque recognising that William Powell Frith, the world-renowned painter, whose signature work was called The Derby Day was born in the tiny village on November 2, 1819.
A portrait of William Powell Frith as a young man. Picture: Mary Evans Picture Gallery
His mother Jane, was house steward to Sophia Lawrence of Studley Royal, before the family moved to Harrogate in 1826 to manage the Dragon Hotel.
Nine years later, at the age of 16, Frith decided to take his prodigious artistic talent to London, telling his family that his aim was to make his fortune.
This was no misplaced boast, as he was entered into the Royal Academy and earned the accolade of being one of Queen Victoria's favourite painters.
The Queen, who is Victoria's great great grandaughter, has never won the Classic race as either owner or breeder and the nearest she came was in her coronation year , when her horse Aureole finished second in the 1953 running.
Dreams of a fairy-tale win in platinum jubilee year were dashed when her horse Reach for the Moon was withdrawn from today's race by joint trainers John and Thady Gosden, after the three-year-old colt suffered a training setback.
For only the third time in her 70-year reign, the 96-year-old Queen is also a 'non-runner' at Epsom today, with ongoing health issues meaning she will be watching the race on television.
Frith, who lived to the age of 89, died in 1909 assured that his Derby Day work created between 1856 and 1858 had earned him the fortune that he predicted.
His classic painting and other celebrated works - have put him forever in the frame as one of the world's best known artists
Read More:
- Where you can go for the district's jubilee celebrations
- Why was it time for a royal tea at Ripon Cathedral?
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