'King Charles forgave me for beating him in horse race but Queen Camilla didn’t'

King Charles rode in six races as an amateur jockey in 1978 and 1979, with one of the two horses he managed to finish second on being Long Wharf at Plumpton in a 1980 charity flat race.

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Veteran BBC and ITV commentator Derek Thompson has reminisced about a 1980 horse race where he famously beat King Charles, with Queen Camilla humorously remarking she's still not over it.

The King, who had a brief stint as an amateur jockey 45 years ago, participated in six races, including one at the Cheltenham Festival shortly before his engagement to Princess Diana.

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Despite never securing a win, he did finish second twice, one of which was on his debut at Plumpton in a charity flat race.

Thompson, who was also in the race, edged out the King, riding the favourite Long Wharf, to claim victory. Although the two have amiably discussed the event since, the Queen continues to jest she hasn't forgiven him for the upset.

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"I beat the future King," Thompson told Freebets.com.

"And I remember at Royal Ascot last year, we were having a chat, and I said, 'sorry, Sir. I beat you all those years ago.' He said, 'don't worry. I forgave you. Don't worry.' His wife, the Queen, then said, 'but I haven't Tommo!' We always joke about it, but it was an incredible day. I'll never forget it."

Reflecting on the memorable race, Thompson expressed his delight, confessing even before the start, he felt confident in his horse, trained by the future six-time champion National Hunt trainer Nicky Henderson, to take the win, reports Aberdeen Live.

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Thompson, fondly known as Tommo, reminisced about a memorable charity race where he rode for trainer Nicky Henderson. "It was a charity race. I rode a horse for Nicky Henderson," he said.

"He used to drive down from London three times a week at five o'clock. I got there and rode him out. It was a horse called Classified who hadn't run before.

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"But he was trained by Nicky Henderson. He wasn't the champion trainer then because it was forty years ago. He'd just started out. I remember on the Sunday before the Tuesday, we'd gone for a gallop, three of us – I was riding Classified. Nicky was on another horse, and the stable jockey Steve Smith Eccles was on another horse."

"And we did a mile gallop on the hills at Lambourn, and nobody else saw it. And I won the gallop by about 20 lengths. I wasn't showing off or anything, just won it."

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"Steve said next to me, 'what the blinking heck is that, Tommo?' I said, 'he's called Classified – has never run before.' He said, 'well, you've just beat me 20 lengths. Giving me two stone. The horse I rode won a handicap over at Newbury under 12st 7lbs last week. You've just annihilated me. You must be on the biggest certainty of all time'.

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"Apparently, all the stable staff at Nicky's backed me at 16-1 – if I hadn't won, I'd have been dead half an hour later," he quipped. "So it was incredible."

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