King Charles and Queen Camilla are enjoying their time away from public-facing royal duties at the race track, cheering on one special horse in particular.
On Friday, May 31, the royal couple enjoyed the Epsom Derby Festival held at the Epsom Downs Racecourse, hoping one horse in particular would cross the finish line first. King Charles and Queen Camilla's horse, Treasure, competed in the Betfred Oaks race, People reports—a horse bred by the late Queen Elizabeth.
The publication reports that King Charles and Queen Camilla were "all smiles during the outing," which included the pair presenting the Coronation Cup Trophy to British jockey Ryan Moore, the winning jockey.
Unfortunately, the late Queen Elizabeth's horse placed 11th out of the 12-horse race.
For the uninitiated, King Charles inherited his late mother's horses after she passed away in September 2022. Shortly after, the monarch sold some of the late Queen's horses, which according to Tattersall auction house's spokesman Jimmy George is not uncommon.
"It's nothing out of the ordinary," George told the BBC in a previous interview. "Every year (the royal family) would sell horses. The Queen had brood mares of her own; she would breed them and sell them. You can't keep them all."
Queen Elizabeth was a well-known lover of horses and avid racehorse breeder. As the Tennessee Lookout reports, the Queen's father gifted her a Shetland pony when she was 4, arguably sparking her life-long love of horses.
"She frequently rode with trainer Terry Pendry, right up until...the age of 96," the publication reported at the time of her death. "And in a moment that reminds us how very human she was, one of her happiest moments was clearly the day her very own horse Estimate won the Royal Ascot in 2013."
According to the same publication, at just 11 years of age the Queen made one of her "most famous statements" ever, telling people that when she grew up: “I should like to be a horse."
While King Charles and Queen Camilla didn't have much luck at the racetrack during their latest visit, they were winners last year at the Royal Ascot, People reports.
The royal couple's horse, Desert Hero, won the King George V Stakes the publication notes, which included a $65,650 prize, Sky Sports reported at the time.
Queen Elizabeth's cousin, the Duke of Kent, awarded the couple with a silver trophy to mark the victory. The moment, according to King Charles' niece Zara Tindall, was "bittersweet."
"To think how proud our grandmother the Queen would have been, but to have a winner for Charles and Camilla and keep the dream alive was incredible," Tindall told ITV Racing at the time.
