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• Horse racing
• Royal Ascot

King Charles has revealed there is one race he wants to win ‘more than anything else’, according to a royal trainer’s Mum.

The King and Queen inherited the royal racehorse string from the late Queen Elizabeth II who had a lifelong passion for horse racing. Despite questions over the future of the Royal Family’s involvement in horse racing following Queen Elizabeth’s death, the King and Queen have maintained the tradition with a smaller yet effective string.

In 2023 they celebrated their first Royal Ascot winner together when Desert Hero won the King George V Stakes and when the horse contested the St Leger they went to Doncaster to cheer him on.

They also have a handful of horses based in Australia, including three with top trainer Ciaron Maher.

During Royal Ascot, Maher was invited to Windsor Castle for lunch with the King and Queen and were then given the honour of arriving at the racecourse in a horse drawn carriage as part of the royal procession. His plus-one was his mother Eileen who sat next to King Charles at lunch.

Mrs Maher has now spilled the beans on their conversation, giving an interview in Australia to the SENTrack & RSN’s Giddy Up programme.

“During the lunch he happened to tell me that the Queen asked him to continue the legacy that she had started of having horses trained in other countries,” she said.

“She told him that it was a way of connecting with those communities and a way of keeping in touch. That is why Charles continued by giving Ciaron three horses to train.”

Maher has two potential stayers, Gilded Water and Aeolian, in his stable which are owned by the King and Queen.

Revealing more of her chat with the King, Eileen went on: “He told me that the race that he wants to win more than anything else is the Melbourne Cup, and if Ciaron could get one of those horses into the Melbourne Cup, he and Queen Camilla would definitely come out for the race.”