KING Charles visited his late mother’s beloved racehorses on his first trip to Sandringham following her death.
The monarch inspected the animals before selling 14 of them for more than £1million in a major royal racing shake-up.
The King inspects his late mother’s horses at the stables on the Sandringham Estate, Norfolk
He later sold 14 of them for more than £1million
Photos taken on October 21, before the auction, show Charles checking over the horses on the Norfolk estate.
He inherited around 60 after the Queen’s death on September 8 but went on to sell more than a third at Tattersalls in Newmarket, Suffolk last month.
The sales ranged from £300,000 for Just Fine – the horse that gave the King his first winner in the Royal Silks – to £4,000 for three-year-old colt Tack.
In total, he netted £1,075,500, with an average price of £76,821.
His Majesty was said to be in talks about “winding down” the Firm’s breeding operation.
But a royal source insisted he plans to “continue the tradition” – just not on the same scale as his mum.
Tattersall’s spokesperson Jimmy George added: “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.”
The late Queen inherited the Royal Stud, a racehorse breeding centre at Sandringham, from her father, King George VI.
She was a keen breeder who entered into 3,441 UK races in the last 35 years, of which she won 566, according to OLBG.
Arguably her biggest and best moment in the spotlight came when Estimate won the Ascot Gold Cup in 2013.
Her son is believed to have assumed control of 60 racehorses and 38 brood mares, with 30 new foals expected next year.
The King has already had some success on the track, with three wins from 19 runners.
The best of those was Perfect Alibi, who landed Charles a £28,000 windfall with victory in a Listed contest at Yarmouth last month.
More than £36million was paid for horses over the course of the record-breaking four-day sales at Tattersalls, with the average price of a horse £35,949.
The monarch appeared in good spirits at the stud
Charles wants to “wind down” the Firm’s racing operation, it has been reported
The King has already had some success on the track, with several wins
Camilla and the Queen at a horse whispering demo at Buckingham Palace in 2015
The Queen riding Balmoral Fern, a 14-year-old Fell Pony, in Windsor Home Park in 2020
