King Charles and Willie Mullins strike historic deal over ‘impressive' horse bred by his late mum Queen Elizabeth II
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
KING Charles and Willie Mullins have struck an historic deal - which will see the legendary handler train a hugely 'impressive' horse bred by the monarch's late mum.
The amazing link-up, reported by The Irish Field, means Mullins will look after the brilliantly-bred Reaching High in a first-of-its-kind agreement.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
3
Queen Camilla and King Charles III will be the first reigning monarchs to have a horse trained in Ireland - after striking a deal with legendary handler Willie Mullins
Credit: Getty
3
Willie Mullins, alongside wife Jackie, left, is the biggest name in racing and his wins this year include the Grand National, where son Patrick, middle, rode 33-1 Nick Rockett to glory at Aintree
Credit: PA
3
Reaching High demolished rivals on his only win to date
It is believed Reaching High will be the first horse ever owned by a reigning monarch to be trained in Ireland.
Formerly with the now-retired Sir Michael Stoute, Reaching High blew punters away with a seven-length rout of rivals in the Racing League at Wolverhampton last August.
That was his sole win in eight starts - but it looks like there is so much more to come from the four-year-old gelding.
And King Charles and Mullins - who was crowned Irish and British champion jumps trainer last season - are targeting Royal Ascot.
Reaching High's mum is Estimate, the late Queen's favourite horse who won the Ascot Gold Cup in 2013.
Video of Queen Elizabeth II celebrating the monumental victory alongside trusted confidante and racing adviser John Warren was played the world over.
And Reaching High's dad is none other than the awesome Sea The Stars - one of the greatest racehorses ever who won the 2000 Guineas, Derby, Coral-Eclipse, Juddmonte, Irish Champion Stakes and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 2009.
Mullins said he and King Charles, who owns horses alongside wife Queen Camilla, were introduced at last year's Royal Ascot.
And a deal was done then that would ultimately lead to him being sent the hugely promising Reaching High.
Mullins - who could gatecrash the Gold Cup with another £100,000 monster - told The Irish Field that they have already set out which race at Royal Ascot they want to win.
That's providing all goes well with his debut at Leopardstown on Friday, when he will be ridden by Champion Bumper winner Jody Townend, sister to Mullins' No1 jockey Paul.
Mullins, whose wins in Britain this year included the Grand National, where he had the 1-2-3 at Aintree, said: "He could be a contender for the Ascot Stakes over two-and-a-half miles on the opening day of Royal Ascot.
"His pedigree is all stamina so those kind of races should suit him."
King Charles actually rode at Cheltenham Festival but the Royal runners have tended to focus on the Flat.
Of them, Estimate was by far the best but the King and Queen did have big success in 2023 with Desert Hero.
Alsy by Sea The Stars and bred by the late Queen, he was a thrilling 18-1 Royal Ascot winner, reducing the King to tears.
He then won the Group 3 Gordon Stakes at Glorious Goodwood before finishing third in the St Leger - the final Classic of the season - at Doncaster.
There had been fears King Charles would drastically cut back the multi-million pound Royal racing operation after he inherited it.
But Queen Camilla remains a huge supporter of the sport and the couple still have a lot of horses in training with the likes of Nicky Henderson over jumps and William Haggas, Ralph Beckett and John and Thady Gosden on the Flat.
FREE BETS - GET THE BEST SIGN UP DEALS AND RACING OFFERS
Commercial content notice: Taking one of the offers featured in this article may result in a payment to The Sun. You should be aware brands pay fees to appear in the highest placements on the page. 18+. T&Cs apply. gambleaware.org.
Remember to gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
Never chases their losses
Doesn't gamble if they're upset, angry or depressed
Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
Gamble Aware – www.gambleaware.org
Find our detailed guide on responsible gambling practices here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
Owen Farrell named on bench for Lions' second Test against Wallabies
Owen Farrell has been named on the bench for the British and Irish Lions' attempt at completing a series victory over Australia in Melbourne on Saturday. Four days after captaining the Lions in the midweek victory over the First Nations and Pasifika, Farrell will make his first Test appearance since the 2023 World Cup as fly-half and inside centre cover.
Powys County Times
2 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Owen Farrell named on bench for Lions' second Test against Wallabies
Owen Farrell has been named on the bench for the British and Irish Lions' attempt at completing a series victory over Australia in Melbourne on Saturday. Four days after captaining the Lions in the midweek victory over the First Nations and Pasifika, Farrell will make his first Test appearance since the 2023 World Cup as fly-half and inside centre cover. Head coach Andy Farrell has made three changes to the starting line-up that won the first Test 27-19, including the removal of Sione Tuipulotu, who is jettisoned from the matchday 23 completely with Bundee Aki taking his place in the number 12 jersey. Joe McCarthy has lost his battle with the foot condition plantar fasciitis so Ollie Chessum is drafted into the second row and there is an adjustment at loosehead prop where Andrew Porter is preferred ahead of Ellis Genge.
Metro
6 hours ago
- Metro
Games Inbox: Why has the Nintendo Switch 2 been so successful?
The Thursday letters page tries to predict what might be in the next Nintendo Direct, as one reader thinks EA should've made a new franchise instead of Battlefield 6. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ Beyond the games Really is incredible how well the Switch 2 has done, smashing all records for sales in the US and Japan. And all with what I would call quite a weak line-up of games. Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza have reviewed well but they've not blown the doors off, and I doubt either are going to be getting any serious game of the year nominations. That's fine, some consoles don't get games of that quality in their whole lifetime, but that means there's got to be other reasons for it selling so well, beyond the games. I think it's a mixture of the idea of the Switch – the hybrid console – being just such a great concept, as proven by the Switch 1, and that Nintendo has earned such trust from the last console and its games. I do feel their lack of announcements so far is already playing a bit loose with that trust but so far there doesn't seem to be any sign of them being punished for it. People are buying the Switch 2 not just for what it can do now but for what they believe it'll do in the future, based on the Switch 1. And I think as long as Nintendo don't start resting on their laurels that's fine. Looking forward to the next Nintendo Direct. Onibee Home made Thanks very much for the Amiga top 20. I can think of a few games I would've added but not many I would've taken out, which is probably a good sign. Although I admit I've never heard of or played Warhead, Exile, or Starglider 2 before. The thing that stuck out to me was how almost all of the games were British, which I didn't really think of at the time. But now I realise that most of the games I was playing in my youth were either British or British companies porting over Japanese-made arcade games. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. I actually must've played relatively few American games in those days, which is wild when you think of the industry today, where almost everything is American and there are basically no British games at all. We can't turn the clocks back but clearly something has been lost and I agree that it's a nice treat nowadays to play something that hasn't been made in either the US or Japan. I don't know if we're going to get a flood of French games now, because of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but I'd much prefer that than another game where I have to save New York City. Columbo The penultimate ninja I recently invested into System 3's Last Ninja collection Kickstarter. I have hoped for an updated/new Last Ninja game for decades. While this collection is a way to keep the purchaser as a custodian of the game of sorts, I do think the inclusion of The Last Ninja 4 demo is proof that the game could be given a new lease of life. As Mark Cale has said, it takes a lot of time, effort, and not least money to make a game these days, so perhaps some rich individual/company might give the game a chance to be played by today's younger gamers and see what a fantastic experience it is. GHH69 GC: Oh, they've also got IK+ in there too. Email your comments to: gamecentral@ Slowly does it I have a feeling we're all going to be disappointed by the next Nintendo Direct. They have got far too much stuff that nobody cares about to talk about at the moment, that I don't think they're going to have time for anything else. We might get some new Mario Kart World content, but we know nothing about Hyrule Warriors and Kirby Air Rider at the moment, or Metroid Prime 4. Even if they split that off and give it its own Direct, I think next year's games are just not what they're bothered about at the moment. Maybe we'll get a mic drop teaser at the end, maybe, but I think that's much more likely in the autumn or at The Game Awards. From Nintendo's perspective everything has worked out perfectly with the Switch 2, I don't think they're in any hurry to move things forward. Grant Boomer extrusion I've got to say, that Fallout 1 remake you mentioned looks really amazing. I'm not familiar with the Doom engine it's made with, but it seems to have the perfect balance between old school and modern, and I'm very keen to see more games made with it. So-called boomer shooters have become quite popular in recent years, but they always seem kind of forced to me. But I really like this approach, of remaking an isometric game in the style of an old school first person game. It makes me want to see other games like Planescape: Torment and maybe even the original Diablo games? It would be cool, I think. Beniz Rainbow 12 I've bought and been playing recently Ready or Not, a cracking game that's just come out on PlayStation 5 and Xbox. It's a mission-based game where you have to storm a building/office/home and take out the bad guys. It can get played single-player with bots or online with friends or randoms. I guess it's a mixture of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six games and Rainbow Six Siege. It's a very tense game, knowing one wrong move can lead to death and a mission restart. The AI is impressive, especially the enemies who move around the maps very effectively and cause some unpleasant surprises. At £45 I thought this was money well spent – replay is high, as each time the enemies start in different places. All in all, highly recommend. Keep up the good work. Manic miner 100 (gamertag) GC: Thanks. Secret ending Surely there's going to be a Metroid Prime 4 Nintendo Switch 2 hardware bundle by Christmas as well? Which is going to make at least four different official ones. I would warn everyone though that the cheap Mario Kart World one is not going to be around forever. Nintendo hasn't said when it will stop but they have said it won't last past this year. I pointed this out to a friend who was weighing up whether to get one or not and I said to him it's not a good idea to wait until autumn because that deal could just disappear overnight. Lumpy Giving up If Battlefield 6 is as big a hit as EA wants I will be shocked. They've got four separate developers making this?! For a franchise that's always been an also-ran and where the last one sunk without trace within a matter of days? Are we sure this isn't a tax write-off or something? The big problem with the lack of new IP today is that companies would much rather flog a dead horse than just come up with something relatively similar, that has more freedom to try new things. We all know what a Battlefield game is and I'm sure that after the failure of the last one they'll try and paint the new one as being back to its roots or some such tagline. But why not just make something new that doesn't have all that baggage? What are the main elements of Battlefield? 64+ player battles, lots of vehicles, and destruction. There's really nothing beyond that, with no consistent setting, no unique game modes, and definitely no ongoing storyline. Surely it'd be far better to make something new in the same area then spend half your time defending yourself from rabid fans and the other half telling non-Battlefield fans that they shouldn't be scared because it's called Battlefield 6 and yet is actually the 13th sequel. Maybe I'm being naïve, but I think there comes a time where a name becomes more of a hinderance than a help, especially with a franchise that never quite made it to the big time. Lostem Inbox also-ransWhat I don't get with these next gen portable rumours is how much is it all going to cost? If you've got a PlayStation 6 home console and the portable, isn't that going to be the best part of £1,000. And then they turn round in a couple of years and try and push the PS6 Pro? No thank. Grondite I loved the Amiga. I would say Superfrog was my favourite game but then I played it again recently and it was awful. Nostalgia can be a hell of a kick to the head sometimes. The Bishop More Trending Email your comments to: gamecentral@ The small print New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers' letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content. You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader's Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot. You can also leave your comments below and don't forget to follow us on Twitter. MORE: Games Inbox: Will there ever be a new Mass Effect game? MORE: Games Inbox: Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Commodore Amiga MORE: Games Inbox: What is the next big game for Nintendo Switch 2?
