Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II led tributes to Henry Cecil, the legendary trainer who died last week, before the start of racing at Royal Ascot on Tuesday.Cecil died after a long battle with cancer, and a part of Royal Ascot died with him. His 75 winners at the showpiece of British racing outnumbered the seconds within a beautifully-observed minute's silence called in his memory.The first of those winners, Parthenon, came just days before the Queen's Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, would lose the 1970 general election. Cecil was about longevity as much as equine intuition.There was an empty space in the Queen's carriage where Prince Philip, now convalescing after his release from hospital on Monday, would normally have sat.And all around her, racegoers bowed their heads in acknowledgement of Cecil and his magnificent deeds.Cecil and Royal Ascot were synonymous: His love of flamboyant clothes dovetailed perfectly with the pomp.But beneath the extravagant hats and pageantry is horse racing's showcase...

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