AN Oxfordshire trainer recalled his many conversations with The Queen about one of her lifelong loves.

Charlie Longsdon was tasked with training several of Her Majesty’s horses at his Hull Farm stables, near Chipping Norton.

He would not always deal with The Queen directly, of course, but the west Oxfordshire handler revealed her passion for racing meant she could not resist getting involved.

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Longsdon said: “We’ve been very lucky to have had half a dozen horses that we trained for her.

“We generally dealt with her racing manager, but I’ve spoken to her plenty of times because of her massive passion for horses.

“Her knowledge of racing has always been second to none and whenever I spoke to her she was so knowledgeable. She has been there, done that and got the T-shirt.

“It was close to her heart and she would far rather speak about her horses than anything else.”

Longsdon was first asked to train one of The Queen’s horses in 2015, when he welcomed a three-year-old filly called Sports Day.

Her Majesty’s main interest was in Flat racing but she also owned Jumps horses, sending some of them to Hull Farm.

Longsdon also has fond memories of saddling Forth Bridge to four winners for The Queen, between 2016 and 2019.

He said: “There are probably far better-qualified trainers in the country, but it was a massive privilege to be able to train them.

“Forth Bridge gave us a few really good days out and certainly brought us a lot of joy.”

Longsdon started out as assistant to multiple Champion Trainer Nicky Henderson and has saddled more than 650 winners of his own since moving to Hull Farm in 2009.

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It is an impressive CV, but he will not come across many people in racing that matched The Queen’s passion for the sport.

Horses, like dogs, were her lifelong love and she had an incredible knowledge of breeding and bloodlines.

Whether it was racing thoroughbreds or ponies, she showed an unfailing interest.

Yesterday’s news rocked the racing world, with Longsdon paying tribute to the UK’s longest-serving monarch and her loved ones.

He said: “She’s been an absolute superstar for all of us.

“Her family are the most important thing first and foremost.”