Here is a new and exciting sculpture that was unveiled by Her Royal Majesty The Queen at the Royal Ascot Racecourse earlier this week on Tuesday , June 16th, 2015.

Her Majesty The Queen on Tuesday (June 16th, 2015) unveiled a statue of the legendary racehorse Frankel at the Ascot Racecourse during the first day of this year’s Royal Meeting. The striking bronze statue, created by sculptor Mark Coreth, will now be displayed overlooking the Parade Ring, facing the Winners’ Enclosure, at the racecourse.

The Racehorse Frankel, trained by the late Sir Henry Cecil, is widely considered to be the greatest flat racehorse. Ascot Racecourse is delighted to display the piece prominently on the course that Frankel ran at more than any other racehorse. He was unbeaten in his 14-race career, with five of those victories at Ascot, including two during the Royal Meeting.

The piece was commissioned by Juddmonte Farms, the breeding operation owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah. The statue is one of a set of four, with the others intended for Banstead Manor near Newmarket where Frankel now stands for stud, the National Museum of Horse Racing and York Racecourse.

Speaking about the sculpture and its unveiling, the sculptor, Mark Coreth commented:

“It was an honor to be asked to create this sculpture of this extraordinary horse. The creative process was a delight and the sculpture tries to capture the power and vitality of Frankel.

“I’ve been to Ascot many times and have fantastic memories of days spent there. Today was different though, having a sculpture of arguably the finest racehorse ever unveiled at the greatest racing venue in the world, was incredibly daunting. It was nevertheless a very proud moment and I hope the sculpture helps people to remember the excitement and exhilaration that they experienced when watching Frankel during his racing career.”

Sculptor Mark Coreth was selected to produce the commission after a competitive process. Coreth’s loose, impressionist style perfectly captures the power and dynamism of this extraordinary horse. The life size statue took eight months to produce. Coreth made multiple visits to Frankel’s stables, measuring the horse and studying his poise and posture. The artist also interviewed those who work closely with Frankel, including his grooms.

After drawing a range of initial sketches, Coreth then produced the sculpture in his studio near Shaftesbury on the Dorset-Wiltshire border in England. The artist created an aluminum wire skeleton which was then covered in clay and sculpted into shape. From this clay model, a mold was created and Coreth then cast sections of the sculpture in bronze before they were joined together.

The statue is now on permanent to display overlooking the Parade Ring at Ascot Racecourse, facing the Winners’ Enclosure that Frankel made his own. The Royal Meeting takes place every day up to and including Saturday 20th June, 2015.

                                            ~Yeats Statue at the Royal Ascot~

Here is another racing statue of “Yeats” at the Royal Ascot that Her Majesty The Queen unveiled in 2011 …

To commemorate the achievement of one of Ascot’s greatest equine legends, the four-time Gold Cup winner Yeats, celebrated sculptor Charlie Langton was commissioned to create a ten per cent over life-size bronze of the horse who dominated Royal Ascot from 2006 to 2009. The statue was unveiled by Her Majesty The Queen, The Duke of Devonshire and Charlie Langton on Tuesday 14th June 2011 at Royal Ascot. The statue will reside permanently in the Parade Ring at Ascot Racecourse for everyone to see.

in his own words Charlie Langton talks in glowing terms of the challenge:

“The process began last summer(2010) with a week of measuring, sketching and sculpting at Coolmore Stud. This was the most important stage as I was able to get to know Yeats from watching him in his daily routine and then spend time speaking to the lads and all those that know him well. It was vital that I gained a complete picture of the horse from those closest to him as I was keen to capture the horse’s character as well as his physical dimensions.”

“Having made a one quarter scale maquette of Yeats I began work on the ten per cent over life-size version in October 2010. The process involves a steel armature, on top of which I added clay – over forty bags were needed (more than one tone). Over sixty measurements taken from Yeats were used along with video footage, my sketches and maquettes. I also made trips back to Coolmore to refresh my eye. He took over eight hundred hours to sculpt.”

“I built a new studio especially for working on this scale so that, vitally, I could have the room to stand back and see the work from a distance. However, it is a very large space to keep warm and it was a constant battle against the cold to prevent the clay from freezing. Every night my Yeats was wrapped up in a New Zealand rug and sleeping bags. Once I was getting close to being happy with the sculpture, the mold making could begin. This was done over the course of ten days by three highly skilled mold makers. He was molded in seven sections (the four legs, head, tail and body). The molds were then taken to the foundry and a combination of the lost wax process and sand casting were used to create the bronze.”