Little-known link between King Charles & Arsenal that could net monarch £76k at the races with horse his late mum bred

10 months ago 53

HE is said to be a secret fan of Burnley.

But a little-known link between King Charles and Arsenal could see the monarch win £76,000 with a superstar horse bred by his late mum.

King Charles was a regular at Royal Ascot with the late Queen – now a horse she bred could land him a £76,000 Cheltenham Festival pay day[/caption]

Excitement was building in Royal racing circles on Tuesday after trainer Jamie Snowden gave Reach For The Moon an entry in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham Festival.

The opening race of the four-day Festival – the peak of the jumps racing calendar – identifies the best new hurdler on the scene.

And it turns out King Charles could have a challenger with a horse he co-owns with former Arsenal chairman Sir Chips Keswick.

Sir Chips, who retired from his role with the Gunners in May 2020, is no stranger to success with horses and celebrated a Cheltenham Festival win just last year when the Snowden-trained You Wear It Well won the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.

She will likely go for the Mares’ Hurdle in two months’ time – but it’s Reach For The Moon that is the real eyecatcher.

The former Flat horse is yet to jump a hurdle in public but Snowden reckons the five-year-old, who used to be ridden by Frankie Dettori, could spring a surprise at 25-1.

He said: “He was obviously a very good horse for John and Thady Gosden and he was a leading contender at one stage for the 2022 Derby.

“He had a few little issues on the Flat hence the reason why he has ended up jumping with us opposed to doing anything else.

“With a horse that has that kind of rating on the flat we have to give him an entry in the Supreme, but we will see how he takes to everything over the next month to six weeks.

“Racing is steeped in the tradition of the Royal Family.

“The Queen Mother loved it, and the late Queen was a big supporter of the sport. 

“It is wonderful that The King and The Queen that are reigning now are supporting racing as much as ever before. 

“They have got a nice team on the Flat, and it was great to see them have a Royal Ascot winner last year in Desert Hero, who won the King George V Stakes. 

“We have got some nice horses for them and hopefully Reach For The Moon can fly the flag high for them.

“We are lucky to have a horse of his talent and hopefully we can do him justice.”

King Charles and Queen Camilla have fully embraced the enormous Royal racing operation, after initial fears they could look to reign it back a bit.

The ruling couple were big draws at Royal Ascot last summer and made a historic visit to Doncaster for September’s St Leger.

And they could be doubly represented at this year’s Cheltenham with the Nicky Henderson-trained Steal A March.

The nine-year-old was due to run last year but suffered a late setback and never made it to raceday.

Henderson is hoping he has better luck this year with another run – hopefully – planned in the Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle, should he qualify at Huntingdon on Thursday.

The Seven Barrows supremo said: “Steal A March was going to the Cheltenham Festival last year, and he was all ready for it, but he had a little issue three weeks before which was real bad luck.

“He has got a run under his belt, which is a help, as he needs a huge amount of work. He is a horse that takes plenty of getting ready.

“I hope he is more ready than the first time as he definitely needed it, but that is him. The step back up in trip to three miles one furlong will suit him as well.

“That was the plan to have Steal A March run at the Cheltenham Festival last year so let’s hope we can do it this year.”