A champion Aussie racehorse with royal connections has jetted into the UK to steal the English’s thunder at Royal Ascot.
Three-year-old bay filly Coolangatta was given a royal reception by the King’s niece, Zara Tindall, ahead of her appearance as favourite in the King’s Stand Stakes on Tuesday.
“I will be there on Tuesday and going down to the paddock to see her walking around before the race,” Tindall said.
Coolangatta was bred by the queen’s racing manager John Warren and sold at the Magic Millions Yearling Sale on the Gold Coast for $280,000 in 2021.
“I am sure Johnny would have told my grandmother all about Coolangatta because she loved hearing about the journey the horses take,” Tindall said.
Warren is now the King’s racing manager and will be keeping a keen eye on his protege next week. “He (Warren) is doing what he was doing before but with a different boss,” Tindall added.
Coolangatta is trained by Melbourne Cup-winning trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, who took her to victory in the $2m Magic Millions Classic in Queensland in 2022.
Regular jockey James McDonald will be in the saddle and among a strong Aussie contingent of horses, trainers, owners and jockeys at Ascot.
Zara Tindall admits that a love of horses runs deep in the royal family.
Tindall is patron of Magic Millions Racing Women, which for the past decade has aimed to encourage more women into the sport, and will be closely watching the five Magic Millions graduates racing over the week.
“This is what dreams are made of,” Tindall said. “Buying a horse, being a shareholder in it, and going on an incredible international journey with it.”
A Magic Millions Racing Women Instagram page has been launched to showcase the success of women in the industry, in which Tindall – Princess Anne’s daughter – plays an integral part, both as a patron of the initiative and her own journey as an elite horsewoman.
“If you have got a horse good enough to race internationally, then it is a fantastic journey,” she said. “Royal Ascot is a phenomenal week of racing that attracts the best in the world.”
Tindall and Magic Millions co-owner Katie Page-Harvey began with a prizemoney bonus for horses owned by women and have seen the idea blossom to include syndicates of female owners all over the world.
Tindall has her eye on competing in Paris in 2024 to try and better her eventing silver medal from London in 2012.
“I would love to go to another Olympics but it is about having the right horse,” she said. “I had a good result at the weekend with my second-string horse. He has loads of ability but his brain is not always in tune.”