The morning of the race, she could see he was aching to run. It was what he wanted to do with her now.
The royal party arrived in horse-drawn landaus and paraded along the track in front of the crowd.
The entire family entered the royal box. Everyone had come. The queen and Prince Edward were there, Victoria, and Alexandra’s three boys had come from school. Jonathan and the Markhams were there, he’d brought the twins, and Penny, the woman Jonathan had been dating for some time now. Lord Hatton was seated next to the queen, and when Annie checked the box with binoculars, she gave a start when she saw Anthony standing just outside the box. She assumed he had come for his father, but she felt odd seeing him and wondered if their paths would cross after the race. She hoped not, and was sorry she’d seen him now. She watched him take a seat between Victoria and William, who was nearly hopping up and down he was so excited. She smiled when she watched him. They had brought him home from Eton. He had just turned sixteen, and the other boys nineteen and twenty. It was a major event, and one of the most important races in England. She never thought she’d see the day when she’d be racing in it. She was the first female jockey, and the only woman racing that day. There were very few who were ready for the transition, but the queen was setting the example in England after the Kentucky Derby. Annie had been one of two women at the Blue Grass Stakes and the Kentucky Derby. And in future, she knew that eventually there would be others, but not many yet.
She let Starlight walk a little, but he was too anxious to leave him out for long. She spoke to him soothingly, and then it was time to take their places. Annie was wearing the queen’s royal colors of purple with gold braid, scarlet sleeves, and black velvet helmet with gold fringe. It was the greatest honor of her life. She was satisfied with the order for the race, and avoided looking for familiar faces as they rode to the start. She kept her mind and her eyes on Starlight, and nothing else. She praised him as they waited and then they were off. She gave him his head quickly because she knew him well now, and it was how he liked to run. He began strong and then settled into his pace, as she edged him forward and kept him steady on course, and then she urged him to increase his speed, pushing him harder and harder to his limits, using his strength and his size to gain momentum, and then she forced him on past what he wanted, but using his trust in her to push him beyond anything reasonable. He pounded and pounded and pounded the ground, faster and faster until his hooves barely seemed to touch the earth. If someone had asked, they would have thought she was flying, and then she pushed him for the final furlong, and she could see the others slip away as she and Starlight moved ahead, and with a final burst of agony and insanity, she asked his utmost from him, and drove him even harder, and they crossed the finish line alone. They kept going until she could slow him down without his getting injured, and came back, and looked toward the royal box with a broad grin. They had done it. Starlight had come through for his owners, his queen, and his jockey.
She had no doubt this time. They had finished in first place. And the announcer declared the winner, Her Majesty Queen Alexandra’s horse Starlight, ridden by the queen’s niece, Her Royal Highness Princess Anne Louise Windsor. It was the proudest moment of Annie’s life, and one of the queen’s best too. Annie could see them jumping up and down in the box, and could almost hear them screaming. The roar of the crowd had been tremendous, and Starlight looked startled by the noise, but Annie kept him in control. The queen and Lord Hatton came down from the royal box to accept the trophy with her, and the queen reached up and patted Annie’s arm and thanked her. They were both crying and didn’t even know it.
“What a wonderful race you ran, Annie,” she said happily.
“It was all Starlight,” she said modestly, and Lord Hatton was grinning broadly, as he thanked her, and she rode Starlight back to his stall. She stayed with Starlight for a few minutes until he started to calm down, and then she left him to the grooms and trainer, and walked toward the royal box to find her family. She was still feeling dazed herself and unsteady on her feet. She didn’t even bother to clean up. She was covered with mud, and had splashes of it on her face and all over her helmet, when she walked straight into Anthony coming toward her. She stopped when she saw him and didn’t know what to say.
“You were fantastic!” he said, and then folded her into his arms without caring about the mud all over her, still wet from the race.
“I’m filthy, don’t…” He kissed her before she could stop him and it reminded her of the first time in Sandringham when he had surprised her and told her he loved her. When he finally stopped, she was even more breathless than she’d been from the race. And just as surprised as she’d been the first time he kissed her.