Long to rein over us!

Canny monarch takes home £7.8million in prize money from racing her horses

‘Such an affinity with horses’

THE Queen’s love of racing is more than a hobby – it’s a rather lucrative sideline.

For her expertise in breeding and training horses has seen her collect a remarkable £7.8million in winnings at the races over the past 31 years.

Wearing the royal colours of purple with scarlet sleeves and gold braid, her jockeys have crossed the finish line first in all but one of the five British Classic flat races.

The Queen inherited her father George VI’s thoroughbred racehorses when he died in 1952 and has since won more than 1,600 races.

In the past three decades her horses have crossed the line first in 534 runs across flat and jump races, banking £7,768,448 in prize money according to research by myracing.com.

The figure only dates back to 1988, when records became readily available. It is thought that most of the prize money goes towards training and looking after the horses.

The Queen’s most profitable year in recent times came in 2016 when she earned £560,274 with Carlton House, her top- earning horse since 1988, winning £772,815. Averaging nine wins per year, her horses have an impressive win ratio of 16.1 per cent across both flat and jump racing over the past 31 years. She has already claimed £192,765 in prize money this year.

The Queen, pictured right with the Gold Cup she won with Estimate in 2013, has never triumphed in the Epsom Derby. That will not change this weekend, as she does not have a horse in the running.

However, she has not been ruled out at Epsom altogether, as her horse Sextant is taking part in the another race at the meeting.

Racing expert Matthew Newman said: ‘She does it for fun, 100 per cent… There has long been a royal connection with racing.

‘Her genuine love of the horses is not in question – one look at her face when her horse begins a run or gets to challenge will tell you all you need to know.’ He added: ‘She turns up come rain or shine at both the Epsom Derby meeting and Royal Ascot.’ The Queen has been named British flat racing champion owner twice – in 1954 and 1957 – and still takes a keen interest in the breeding and training of her horses. One of her racing advisers, John Warren, once said: ‘If the Queen wasn’t the Queen, she would have made a wonderful trainer. She has such an affinity with horses and is so perceptive.’