A dedicated racing fan and racehorse owner, the Queen has attended the June Royal Ascot meeting every year since 1945. Tony Jones looks at the meeting's regal connections and the Queen's success on the turf

The highlight of the Queen's state visit to America was undoubtedly her trip to watch the Kentucky Derby - fulfilling a lifelong dream of attending the world famous race.

The monarch inherited her love of racing from the Queen Mother and has been an avid race-goer for decades.

But a day at the races is something the royal family has been enjoying for hundreds of years.

It was Queen Anne who saw the potential for a racecourse at Ascot, which in those days was called East Cote, while out riding in 1711.

She came upon an area of open heath, not far from Windsor Castle, that looked an ideal place for ''horses to gallop at full stretch''.

Her suggestion was taken up in 1711 and developed over the centuries into the Royal Ascot week we know today - one of the highlights of the social calendar.

Queen Victoria in her earlier years also enjoyed racing. She is said to have won a horse in a bet with her uncle William IV and once apparently became so excited watching a race at Royal Ascot that she broke the window of the royal box in her effort to see the finish.

Victoria's eldest son, the Prince of Wales - later King Edward VII - also enjoyed racing and set the pattern for Royal Ascot week.

The Queen has attended Ascot for many years. She paid her first visit in May 1945 as a 19-year-old wearing her ATS uniform, just after the end of the Second World War in Europe.

She has gone on to attend every year since. When, in 1955, Royal Ascot was cancelled because of a railway strike, she went privately to the July meeting instead.

The event was moved to York races in 2005 because of redevelopment work at Ascot and the monarch travelled north to attend.

Today, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh traditionally attend with other members of the Royal Family on each of the four or five days of the Royal Ascot meeting.

It is also an occasion for pageantry. On each day of the meeting The Queen and her guests leave Windsor Castle after lunch and drive in cars to Windsor Great Park.

There they transfer to open landaus for the drive down the course to the royal box, giving spectators a chance to see The Queen and members of the royal family.

The carriages used in the procession are the five Ascot landaus with basket-work sides kept at the Royal Mews, Windsor Castle. The procession was begun by George IV in 1825.

As the owner and breeder of racehorses herself, the Queen takes a keen interest in the races. Sometimes one of the Queen's own horses is in the running.

The Queen's horses have won races at Royal Ascot on a number of occasions. In 1957 she had four winners during Ascot week and her most recent win was in 1995, when Phantom Gold won the Ribblesdale Stakes (Group II).

In total the Queen has had 19 wins during Royal Ascot week.