King Charles lands £50k payday after 18-1 Royal Ascot horse Desert Hero wins… then DROPS trophy on stage live on ITV
KING CHARLES and Queen Camilla went crazy celebrating in the stands after landing a £50,000 winner at Royal Ascot thanks to his 18-1 horse Desert Hero.
And the monarch was so overcome with emotion afterwards that he actually dropped the trophy.
Top jockey Tom Marquand steered the William Haggas-trained three-year-old to victory in the King George V Stakes in the second race on Ladies’ Day.
The King and Queen were seen cheering wildly in the Royal Box as their horse fended off the challenge of the aptly-named 7-1 Valiant King up the hill.
Zara Tindall, the late Queen’s granddaughter who was at the Berkshire track, said: “Think how proud our grandmother, the Queen, would’ve been.
“To have a winner for Charles and Camilla and keep that dream alive was incredible.
“It’s a new excitement. Like all those owners that come here and have a horse here having that dream, that hope and then fulfilling it is incredible.
“The horses are the main game here, that’s why we get involved and love them and the competition, the adrenaline… it’s indescribable!”
Charles laughed and joked with Marquand – husband of trailblazing rider Hollie Doyle – in the winner’s enclosure.
While Camilla, who is said to be obsessed with racing, was close to tears soon after victory was confirmed, with her husband also touched by the occasion.
It was fitting The King’s first Ascot triumph came ten years to the day since his late mother The Queen had her biggest ever win.
The late Elizabeth II landed the Gold Cup with Estimate in 2013.
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Charles and Camilla inherited the entire Royal racing operation after the late Queen passed away last September.
There were doubts over Charles’ love of the sport his late mum held so close to her heart.
One report claimed he was ‘not looking forward’ to Ascot and considered it an ‘ordeal’.
But there was no questioning his joy at bagging a big winner at racing’s poshest meeting.
A delighted Marquand said: “Genuinely, that’s one of the proudest moments I’ve had in the saddle so far.
“It’s not to the same level that Estimate was on but I grew up watching horses like that win for the Queen and to ride the King’s first Royal Ascot winner is unbelievable. It’s a dream.
“Racing has an amazing way of making things happen when they’re meant to. Riding a royal winner at the royal meeting is so, so special.
“I had to thread the eye of the needle but he was supremely game.
“As the Haggas team show time and time again, they just get it right time and time again.”
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