Only time will tell if King becomes a true racing believer

This was not the first year the King has been to Royal Ascot, of course, but it was his debut outing as the top man of the place. He had one runner on Tuesday, beaten into fifth by a horse called, of all things, Royal Champion.

Will the day have converted a man said to be something of a racing agnostic? He had the significant advantage of having an experienced horse-loving campaigner at his side, and his wife made an early bid to win over favourite-backers when delivering a stylish white titfer to land a gamble on the Queen’s Hat Colour Stakes at 3-1.

Both Queen Camilla and King Charles appeared to enjoy the Royal Procession. The King removed his own topper during the national anthem and, once the band had finished, waved it in a suave, rather understated underarm motion, assuming a person can be understated while being applauded in a giant horse-drawn carriage listening to a song about God singling them out for special protection.

The reception he received on arrival at the parade ring was warm, and it was crowded in there, people craning for a view, with hundreds also watching from the concourse above. He waved, he seemed content enough; perhaps it is fair to speculate he might also have been thinking about his late mother.

He got out of the precariously high carriage with sprightly assurance, not half bad for a chap in his seventies going over these obstacles for the first time, or at least the first time at the head of the herd.

Was the reception a degree or two less adoring than those for Elizabeth II? Difficult to say for sure, but the affection, or indifference, held by the new monarch towards the sport feels important to racing in general, and to Royal Ascot in particular.

It has been said that one of Elizabeth II’s strengths was allowing very little public access to her feelings and opinions, a blank canvas in canary yellow on to which people could project their thoughts about her, about a monarchy, perhaps also about an older generation or a previous Britain.

She liked brightly-coloured hats, corgis, and especially horses and racing. This we know, and a great many people in the sport have spoken warmly about her passion, her depth of knowledge. Racing, under pressure from protests and, potentially, gambling legislation, needs its stars, and its champions.

The King, in contrast to his mother’s meticulously curated emotional abstinence, has made his likes and dislikes a matter of public record: Organic food, modern architecture, that pen he had a little tantrum about at the coronation. Also, the woman who once went by plain Camilla Parker-Bowles and is by all accounts the love of his life and, at last, his wife and Queen.

He is not an inscrutable person or one afraid to express his displeasures, and even if it was not immediately apparent at a distance on Tuesday, it is reasonable to assume that racing will know soon enough the depth or otherwise of royal patronage. Will it be done for duty, or for love?

The choice of the other members of the procession was cause for optimism, horse people welcome: The trainer Willie Mullins, later called twice to the stewards’ room after races, which might have put him off his Royal Box afternoon tea. Hopefully first and second in the last race was a tonic.

Also, Ralph Beckett, now training four of the King’s two-year-olds; and the Princess Royal, who as always looked eager to get the hoopla out of the way and on to the really important business of the horses. Some of the Queen’s family members were also involved.

However, it was not all racing types: The King’s other concerns being represented by Lady Bamford (an organic food evangelist as well as racehorse owner/breeder) and the Duke of Gloucester (an architect, but not a carbuncle one).

Since the death of Elizabeth II, the nation has had a new head of state; whether racing has found its new figurehead is as yet unclear, and we wait to see if the sport of kings will be the sport of this King.