Queen Camilla strengthens racing ties after York announces she will be course's royal patron

Just days before the start of its season, York has announced Queen Camilla is to be its royal patron. The news comes just a week after she and King Charles were appointed joint-patrons of the Jockey Club.

The Queen, who was then the Duchess of Cornwall, was at York in 2016 to see her Pacify finish second in a 1m2f handicap at the Dante meeting. Pacify, who she owned and bred in partnership with her husband, won a 1m4f race on the Knavesmire in 2018.

Among her other links to racing, the Queen is also a patron of the National Stud and president of the Ebony Horse Club riding charity in Brixton.

The King and Queen took over the royal bloodstock interests on the death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022 and have Slipofthepen and High Order entered at York on Thursday, the second day of this week's Dante meeting.

The Queen was at York with royal racing manager John Warren, trainer Ralph Beckett and jockey Fran Berry when Pacify ran at the Dante meeting in 2016

Bridget Guerin, who chairs the York race committee, said: “We are both honoured and thrilled Her Majesty has agreed to be the royal patron of York. Her well-known support of equestrian sports over so many years is much appreciated.

“We have been privileged to host royal visits in the past and very much look forward to welcoming Her Majesty back to York.”

York’s royal links date back to Queen Anne, who had a winner at the course in 1714. The late Queen won 51 races there and attended each day of the meeting when Royal Ascot was staged at York in 2005 due to redevelopment. She also bred Insular, on whom her daughter Princess Anne won the Queen Mother Cup for women amateur riders on the Knavesmire in 1988. 

The Duke of York opened the new weighing room in 2015, when he was the course’s royal patron.

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