King Charles makes £1m selling 14 of the Queen's beloved racehorses
King Charles makes £1million selling off 14 of the Queen’s beloved racehorses amid fears new monarch is winding down royal racing operation
- King Charles sold over a third of his late mother’s beloved racehorses this week
- He made an average of £76,821 for each horse and more than £1million for all 14
- His first race-winning horse Just Fine was one of four sold for a six-figure sum
- Source close to the Royal Sandringham Stud said he is winding down operation
King Charles has made more than £1million by selling off 14 of the late Queen’s beloved racehorses, reinforcing fears that he might be planning to wind down the royal racing operation.
The King sold more than a third of his mother’s racehorses, which he inherited upon her death last month, at the famous Tattersalls October sales in Newmarket, Suffolk this week.
The royal racehorses made him an average of £76,821 each – £1,075,500 in total – with Charles’s first race-winning horse Just Fine being sold for £300,000.
Trained by the Queen’s longest standing trainer Sir Michael Stoute, Just Fine won an impressive victory in Leicester earlier this month – the first win since the late monarch’s death on September 8.
He was one of four of the Queen’s former horses that sold for six-figure sums.
Meanwhile Love Affairs, which was the Queen’s last winner at Goodwood two days before her death, sold for £38,000.
The King (pictured with Queen Consort Camilla at Royal Ascot in 2009) has made more than £1million by selling 14 of his mother’s racehorses
Four-year-old racehorse Just Fine – King Charles’s first prize-winning horse – has been sold for £300,000. (Pictured winning the British Stallion EBF Novice Stakes at Sandown racecourse in Surrey)
The sales this week mean that King Charles has got rid of more than a third of the late Queen’s beloved racehorses. Pictured: Queen Elizabeth at Royal Ascot last year
Charles has already had some success since inheriting his mother’s racehorses, with Perfect Alibi earning him £28,000 with victory in a Listed contest at Yarmouth earlier this month.
But despite this, there are rumours that the new monarch might be planning to wind down, or at least scale back, the royal racing operation.
A source close to the Royal Sandringham Stud in Norfolk said there is talk of ‘winding down’ the breeding operation over three years, until it ceases to be a commercial operation.
The source said: ‘The Royal stud could be a museum in three years. It would be a real shame.’
A Royal source confirmed Charles will reduce the number of horses but added: ‘The connection between the family and the horse racing industry will continue.
‘The desire is to continue with the traditions and connections with Royal Ascot but not on the same scale as Her Majesty because she had a passion.’
There is much speculation that King Charles (pictured in Ballater, Aberdeenshire earlier this month) is planning to scale back the royal racing operation
Tactical (pictured winning Royal Ascot in 2020) is one of four of the Queen’s racehorses that was sold off for a six-figure sum
The source added that some horses have already been sold as part of the ‘natural churn’ of buying and selling that comes with running the collection.
The Queen usually sold around seven horses a year, so this month’s sale represents a big increase.
But, speaking before the auction, Tattersall’s spokesman Jimmy George denied that the sale of 14 horses was anything ‘out of the ordinary’.
He told the BBC: ‘The Queen had brood mares of her own, she would breed them and sell them. You can’t keep them all.’
He denied that the sale of the horses symbolised the end of the Royal household’s connection with horses.
The Queen inherited the Royal Stud from her father and the breeding centre at Sandringham produced a large number of her winning horses.
The Queen was famously horseracing’s number one fan and subsidised her profit out her private purse. Pictured celebrating with her mother (left) and then Prince Charles (right) at Epsom in 1993
The Queen (pictured at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 1968) usually sold around seven horses a year, so this month’s sale represents a big increase
The Queen leads in her Oaks winner, Carrozza, with Lester Piggott — who was her favourite jockey — in the saddle in 1957
But the late monarch subsidised the hefty running costs of her hobby from her private purse – as it did not always turn a profit.
Last year was her best in racing, with 36 winners earning £590,000 in prize money.
She also kept around 30 show horses and earlier this month she posthumously won a top prize at Horse of the Year show, dubbed ‘Crufts for horses’.
The prize, which always eluded her in life, was given to her retrained racehorse First Receiver.
It is thought she made around £10million in prize money over her lifetime, while her operation started with just two trainers and 20 horses in the 1950s.
The late monarch continued discussing ‘her love for her horses right to the very end’, according to her trusted bloodstock and racing adviser John Warren.
The then Princess Elizabeth in 1944 feeds a horse from a trophy after it claimed first prize at the Royal Windsor Horse Show
The Queen inherited the Royal Stud (pictured) from her father and the breeding centre at Sandringham produced a large number of her winning horses
The Queen chuckles with delight while sat next to her trusted bloodstock and racing adviser John Warren after watching her horse Estimate win the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in 2013
Mr Warren said he spent the weekend before the Queen died in Scotland, discussing her horses, as they had done so many times before.
‘We sat there for hours over the weekend strategising and making plans going forward’, he said.
‘And I think the nicest thing for me is to know that she was surrounded by her family members.
‘She was in such a healthy state of mind and in tremendous form.
‘It’s very important to know that she was absolutely, wonderfully switched on.’
King Charles sells 14 of the late Queen’s beloved racehorses
The 14 Royal horses sold and how much King Charles made from each of them:
Just Fine – £300,000
Just Fine created a moment in history at Leicester earlier this month by becoming the first winner in the famous Royal colours for King Charles III.
Trained by Sir Michael Stoute, who was the Queen’s longest-standing trainer and famously saddled Estimate to win the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in 2013, Just Fine was the King’s sixth runner since the royal colours and horses were transferred to him following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8.
Freemason Lodge stables, the trainer, sold Just Fine for 300,000 guineas, around £300,000 to McKeever Bloodstock/Waterhouse Bott Racing this week.
Just Fine was the King’s sixth runner since the royal colours and horses were transferred to him in September
Theme Park – £200,000
Theme Park was one of the Queen’s final race-winners, taking victory at Kempton Park on September 2, just days before the late monarch died.
The two-year-old colt was sold for £200,000 this week to Jamie Piggott and Nigel Tinkler.
Tactical – £150,000
Tactical, the 2020 Royal Ascot winner, also fetched a six-figure sum, making King Charles £150,000.
The Queen was unable to watch the victory in person due to the pandemic, but was said to have tuned in to watch the action unfold on television at Windsor Castle.
Jockey James Doyle rode her horse to win the Windsor Castle Stakes by an authoritative length and a quarter from Yazaman.
It was sold by Park House Stables to racehorse trainer Julie Camacho.
Tactical won the Windsor Castle Stakes in 2020 to complete a double for jockey James Doyle
Naval College – £185,000
Three-year-old gelding Naval College was sold by Freemason Lodge Stables to SackvilleDonald for £185,000.
The horse came first at Lingfield Park on August 31, less than two weeks before the Queen’s death at Balmoral.
Pictured: Ryan Moore riding Naval College at Lingfield Racecourse on August 31
Duty Bound – £55,000
Duty Bound was sold by Park House Stables to former jockey John Flavin for £55,000.
Kiteflyer – £52,000
Three-year-old bay colt Kiteflyer, trained by Sir Michael Stoute, came first at Chepstow in May.
Juryman – £45,000
Two-year-old bay colt Juryman has not yet had any wins but was sold for £45,000 to David Batten of Hurworth Bloodstock.
Love Affairs – £38,000
Love Affairs was the Queen’s last winner at Goodwood two days before her death.
The two-year-old bay filly was sold by Beechdown Farm Stables to LDS Bloodstock for £38,000 this week.
Horse trainer Clive Cox (left) celebrates with jockey Adam Kirby (right) after the Queen’s horse, Love Affairs, won at the Goodwood race course on Tuesday, September 6 – two days before the Queen’s death
Constitution – £18,000
Two-year-old bay colt Constitution has not yet had any wins but was sold this week to Nick Bradley Racing for £18,000.
Spring Is Sprung – £14,000
Three-year-old Spring Is Sprung came first at Southwell in January this year.
The bay gelding was sold to racehorse trainer Paul Midgley for £14,000 at Newmarket this week.
Pictured: Jockey Callum Shepherd rides Spring Is Sprung to third place at Southwell racecourse in February
Persian Gold – £5,000
Quiet Life – £5,000
General Idea – £4,500
Tack – £4,000
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