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King Charles selling 14 racehorses left to him by The Queen
26 October 2022, 10:47
It has been reported that King Charles is selling some of the Queen's racehorses at auction.
King Charles III is reportedly auctioning 14 racehorses he was left by his late mother, the Queen.
While his wife, Camilla is set to take over the royal stables, Charles is thought to be scaling back the number of royal horses.
The horses will be sold at Tattersalls auction house in Newmarket, including the Queen's last winner before her death - Love Affairs.
They will be part of the largest auction sale of its kind in the world, with about 1,500 horses sold throughout the week.
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Spokesman Jimmy George told Sky News: "It's nothing out of the ordinary. Every year they would sell horses.
"The Queen had brood mares of her own, she would breed them and sell them. You can't keep them all."
He added that the sale doesn’t mean the end of the King’s connection with racing, continuing: "Every year owners sell stock. His Majesty is just doing what owners do.”
The Queen had a huge passion for horses and she reportedly owned more than 100 of them when she sadly died at the age of 96 on September 8.
Her mother first ignited her love of riding when she gave Her Majesty her first lesson at the age of three.
She was given her first horse — a Shetland pony named Peggy — at the age of 4 before she went on to breed and race horses for more than 60 years.
According to research by OLBG, the former monarch had entered 3,441 horserace competitions since 1988.
She won 566 races in the UK, receiving approximately £8.7 million, or around $9.8 million, in prize money since 1988.
The Queen Consort described horse racing as Queen Elizabeth’s "passion in life."
"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 shared.
