Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, the racehorse owner and breeder died on 7 November, aged 91.
Born in London, Sir Evelyn was part of the Rothschild banking dynasty, the son of Anthony de Rothschild and Yvonne Cahen d’Anvers.
He pursued a career in banking and took over as chair of NM Rothschild following his father’s retirement. He was also a financial adviser to The Queen and in 1989 was knighted for his services to the banking and finance industry.
Sir Evelyn was known for his passion for polo and racing. From 1977 to 1994 he was chair of United Racecourses, the group that formerly owned Epsom Downs, Sandown and Kempton.
He bred racehorses from his base at Southcourt Stud in Bedfordshire and had horses with trainer Sir Michael Stoute. Sir Evelyn’s most successful horse was Crystal Ocean, who won the Group One Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Ascot in 2019 under Frankie Dettori. A month later the Sea The Stars son was second in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and that year shared the title of the world’s best racehorse with Enable and Waldgeist.
His other notable horses included Group winners Notnowcato, Crystal Capella and Hillstar. This year he had seven horses racing on the Flat, including Crystal Caprice and Crystal Estrella.
He was a generous philanthropist and in 1967 founded the Eranda Rothschild Foundation, which provides funding for medical research and education. He also founded the Elephant Family, an animal conservation charity.
He is survived by his wife Lady de Rothschild, his three children Jessica, Anthony and David, and stepchildren Benjamin and John.
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