8. The Prince’s horses won some of Europe’s most important and prestigious races – earning their owner huge purses
Shooting wasn’t the only sport the Prince loved. Like many royals before and after him, he also developed a keen interest in horse racing. For a while, he was happy to watch and have an occasional gamble. By the 1890s, however, as a middle-aged man with great wealth, he decided to buy a racehorse of his own. Before long, he had a stable of thoroughbreds. In 1896, one of his best, a horse called Persimmon, won both the St Leger Stakes and the Derby Stakes. Another of the Prince’s horses, Ambush II, also won Britain’s most famous race, the Grand National, in 1900.
