The Queen’s horse Carlton House led home a field of six to take the Dante Stakes at York yesterday.
Amongst the horse betting favourite for yesterday’s race, Carlton House has now been thrust into contention for the Epsom Derby next month, and is now the favourite for the second classic of the season after a flurry of horse bets backing the Michael Soute trained horse.
The Queen has never had a Derby winner, but after Ryan Moore bought the colt home ahead of ahead of favourite Sevile, but Carlton House could break her duck this year after an emphatic win.
John Warren, the Queens racing manager, was delighted with Carlton House’s performance, and admitted he had been surprised by his performance.
“That was better than I expected as I was slightly pessimistic.” He explained. “I talked to Her Majesty through the race and she was concerned about the lack of pace but when he went through the gap she let out a yelp!”
“I loved the way he went through the gap as it shows he’d have no trouble with a course like Epsom where you might get trouble.
“The Queen will be at Epsom and this will mean a lot to her. It is fantastic for racing and if she can help the industry, all the better.” He added.
Carlton House is now 5-2 with some bookmakers for the Derby, and after 2,000 Guineas winner Frankel was pulled out of the race, will be well backed as the race nears.