The new monarch inherited the talented racehorses after the late Queen tragically passed away on 8 September. As is tradition, Charles has agreed to scale back the number of royal livestock and will be selling a selection of horses at Tattersalls auction house in New market.
“It’s nothing out of the ordinary. Every year they would sell horses,” Tattersall’s spokesman Jimmy George told the BBC. “The Queen had brood mares of her own, she would breed them and sell them. You can’t keep them all.
“Every year owners sell stock. His Majesty is just doing what owners do,” he added.
Among the 14 horses prepped for auction is Love Affairs – the Queen’s last winner before her death – and Just Fine, Charles’ first winner at Leicester on 4 October.
Whilst King Charles keenly follows the sport, it was his late mother who displayed an unwavering passion for racing and racehorses. The committed equestrian had her first riding lesson at the age of three and continued to ride well into her 90s.
In her lifetime, the monarch moreover established herself as a veritable racehorse breeder. Numbering around 180, the royal horses and ponies are kept at various royal residences and stables, with many sharing a base at Balmoral and Sandringham.
Many of her thoroughbreds have gone on to win impressive titles, and in 2013 she even made sporting history when she became the first reigning monarch to win Royal Ascot’s Gold Cup with her thoroughbred, Estimate.
In a recent interview for ITV regarding Royal Ascot, Queen Consort Camilla praised the late monarch’s impressive breeding knowledge. “She can tell you every horse she’s bred and owned, from the very beginning, she doesn’t forget anything.
“I can hardly remember what I bred a year ago, so she’s encyclopedic about her knowledge,” Camilla said.
