{"id":234794,"date":"2026-05-17T22:56:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T22:56:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/234794\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T22:56:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T22:56:41","slug":"the-queen-smitten-the-racing-biz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/234794\/","title":{"rendered":"The Queen, smitten * The Racing Biz"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

The Queen, smitten<\/p>\n

Virginia\u2019s Smitten Farm played host to Queen Camilla<\/p>\n

\"user\"\/Nick Hahn\"date\"\/May 17, 2026<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

What might you do if you are hanging around a horse farm on a slow Monday night of Kentucky Derby week and receive a phone call?<\/p>\n

\u201cHow would you like to host the Queen?\u201d<\/p>\n

If you didn\u2019t recognize the voice on the other side of the call, you might just hang up. Fortunately, Hunter Lee Marek did not.<\/p>\n

This article contains affiliate links. If you click and buy, we may earn a commission at no extra charge to you.<\/p>\n

Pick up reliable and rewarding tickets for major events!<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything just kind of fell into place,\u201d said Marek, the equine manager of Anne Backer\u2019s Smitten Farm in The Plains, Virginia. \u201cThe British Embassy was out to kind of have a little tour of Smitten and loved it. They decided that this is where they wanted to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marek was under a gag order with security and secrecy ramped up for the visit, especially after the recent threat at the White House Correspondents Association dinner down I-66 in Washington just prior to the royal couple\u2019s arrival to the United States. Any loose discussion of the upcoming appearance might have scrapped the opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Initial awkwardness of hosting such a regal visit would be expected, but conversation rapidly moved to a subject where the two could speak as equals: horses.<\/p>\n

\"\"Queen Camilla and friend at Smitten Farm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was actually a very easy flowing conversation to have,\u201d recall Marek. \u201cYou get a little tense talking to someone of that stature, but she loves horses. We love horses, so it was a very easy conversation to have. We talked about our breeding operation. She got to meet some of the mares. She told me a little bit about her breeding operation, which was fun, and then I got to introduce her to one of our retired mares just to kind of show how involved we are with the aftercare and just looking after our horses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lisa Lazarus, CEO of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, was on hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cHISA was honored to co-host the event and speak with Her Majesty about advancements in equine welfare, aftercare, and our partnerships with the UK horseracing community,\u201d Lazarus said. \u201cThe Queen conveyed her love of horses and interest in racing. It was a special day for everyone.\u201d <\/p>\n

Marek escorted The Queen through the barn and an entourage where they shared carrots and conversation while discussing how they keep an eye on their mares during foaling season. The Queen uses an app on her phone, while Smitten Farm has a feed to the house so that Anne Backer can regularly watch them.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, my goodness me. Just look at her,\u201d Queen Camilla can be heard on video about a February foal before she stepped into another stall to look at an April foal, considerate not to make too large an intrusion. \u201cShe\u2019s very happy. We\u2019re going to wake her up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew she was a horsewoman,\u201d acknowledged Marek. \u201cIt was all very natural. She was giving them carrots. She was patting them on the nose. Everybody was just very comfortable, and it was fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marek witnessed The Queen having a conversation with Anne Backer as the matriarchs talked shop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey got a chance to talk for a little bit too,\u201d said Marek. \u201cIt was funny. They were talking about the ups and downs of the horse business, and that it\u2019s not all rainbows and butterflies all the time, so they were kind of laughing over that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier on the tour, Camilla shared a recent win of one of her own horses in April as Portcullis won a race at Newmarket by 5 1\/2 lengths, overcoming a stumbling start with jockey Ryan Moore aboard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a nice winner the other day,\u201d praised The Queen. \u201cIt was totally unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n

The royal couple\u2019s King\u2019s Prize also won is his debut in April.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are so lovely,\u201d Queen Camilla was overheard on video while patting Blind Date, a \u00a0graded stakes winner who retired to broodmare duties at Smitten Farm.<\/p>\n

The visit to Smitten Farm might have inadvertently been leaked by the Queen as the highlight of her visit to the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it\u2019s lovely to come,\u201d said the Queen. \u201cIt\u2019s a nice way to finish off the trip, having to do something I enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Queen\u2019s arrival at the farm may have provided the most charming moment of all, when Marek\u2019s young daughter, Violet, presented Her Majesty a basket of flowers.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s kind of oblivious to all of it,\u201d said Marek. \u201cOf course, she\u2019s into princesses and queens and kings. She\u2019s 3 \u00bd now, so when I told her that she needed to give flowers to the Queen, she was all excited. I don\u2019t think she actually understood the magnitude of it. It\u2019s a once in a lifetime opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Queen left the farm, smitten.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Pick up reliable and rewarding tickets for major events!<\/p>\n

Nick Hahn<\/a><\/p>\n

Nick Hahn has been covering Virginia racing since before there was a racetrack. He started the \u201cOff to the Races\u201d radio show and irregularly publishes the Nick\u2019s Picks wagering tipsheet.<\/p>\n

LATEST NEWS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Queen, smitten Virginia\u2019s Smitten Farm played host to Queen Camilla Nick HahnMay 17, 2026 What might you…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[91998,91999,9,24,63,122,124,123,85895,92000],"class_list":["post-234794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-ann-backer","tag-hunter-lee-marek","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-smitten-farm","tag-virginia-horse-racing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}