It’s Royal Ascot, and the going is good to firm. The well-heeled, top-hatted and tailed have flocked to Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire for the highlight of the English social calendar and the world’s most prestigious horse racing meeting, June 18-22. 

Yes, it’s called the Sport of Kings for good reason. King Charles and Queen Camilla’s landau carriage led the traditional Royal Procession down the course on Tuesday’s opening day. Twelve monarchs have attended the meeting since the inaugural race, the Queen Anne Stakes—in 1711.  In 1910, shortly after the death of King George VII (a great follower of the sport), it was decided that the race would be held in mourning. The Black Ascot ran with the racegoers all in monochrome.

The headline, Wednesday’s £1 million Prince of Wales's Stakes, a Group 1 contest run over one mile and two furlongs, was won by last year’s Epsom Derby winner, Auguste Rodin. There are 35 races in all over the five days, with a combined purse of £10,050,000, culminating with Saturday’s Queen Alexandra Stakes. 

In honor of Royal Ascot, Luxury Defined spotlights seven equestrian estates, not just for the sport of kings, but all manner of equestrian pursuits. Consider a top-flight racehorse yard in County Cork, Ireland, where a Cheltenham Gold Cup winner was trained; a world-class stud farm and Olympic dressage and show-jumping facility in Germany’s Moselle Valley; or a polo estate on the Southern California coast. 

1. Mount Corbitt House in Churchtown, Mallow, Co. Cork, Ireland 

Mount Corbitt House is a world-class racehorse training establishment on 193 acres outside Churchtown Village in County Cork. 

Indeed, the 2014 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, Lord Windermere, was trained on the premises. Mount Corbitt’s equestrian facilities are second to none and include extensive schooling grounds with logs and easy-fix hurdles and fences; a five-furlong uphill gallop; a four-furlong round gallop; and an indoor arena. 

There are 47 stables in total, along with a tack room, wash bays, a hay barn, staff canteen, numerous offices, a vet room, solarium and ice water spa, and horse walkers.   

There are two separate staff properties and the detached Ballygrace House, a Georgian residence with its own stables, haybarns, courtyard, and grounds.  

Mount Corbitt House itself is a fine Georgian country house, built circa 1780 and beautifully restored and extended for formal and informal living across four floors. The gardens surrounding the house include a courtyard, orchard, and vegetable gardens. A purpose-built ha-ha, styled in the 18th-century tradition, ensures optimal views across Cork countryside. 

The wider grounds are composed of fenced paddocks, pastures, and fields, bounded by hedgerows; a professional cross-country course; mature woodland; and commercial forestry, all connected by a system of private roadways. 

2. Gestüt Peterhof Stud Farm in Perl-Borg, Saarland, Germany 

Gestüt Peterhof lies in the picturesque village of Perl-Borg on Germany’s Upper Moselle River. 

This magnificent 74-acre estate has staged four FEI (International Equestrian Federation) tournaments over the years, including the qualifiers for the 2016 Summer Olympics. There are several Grand Prix dressage horses in residence, in training and at stud. 

Gestüt Peterhof pampers its equine inhabitants with 38 spacious, windowed loose boxes arranged in stable wings linked by central grooming spaces and wash bays, and an immaculate two-story tack room. From there, horse and rider access the 20- by 60-meter indoor and outdoor arenas, lunging ring, and all-weather gallops track. 

The on-site equine wellness facility (with veterinary clinic, rehabilitation and fitness complex) includes an aqua trainer, spa, and an infrared heat cabin. The stud farm is a fully certified EU Insemination Station. The clubhouse has an 80-seat restaurant, two kitchens, VIP lounges, event spaces, and terraces.  

An ensemble of dwellings includes the grand two-story main house, stud manager's house, and five elegant guest houses.  

Surrounding the complex are eight year-round paddocks and 32 pastures, all with secure, safety-conscious plastic fencing. 

3. Domaine de Louvranges in Wallonia, Belgium 

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The Domaine de Louvranges, in Belgium’s picturesque Walloon Brabant region, encompasses 12 acres of mature trees and lush, sculpted gardens designed by celebrated Belgian landscape architect Jacques Wirtz.  

This unique private compound consists of three linked structures, which underwent an extensive five-year renovation, completed in 2018.   

The opulent main residence, with exquisite woodwork and architectural detail, has its own custom-built indoor dressage arena. It connects via walkway to the expansive equestrian complex with 10 stalls, wash bays, and tack room. The second level provides reception rooms, offices, and a mezzanine spectators gallery.   

There are two kitchens: A warm, country-style island kitchen serving the breakfast nook and formal dining room, adjoining an industrial-style banquet-scale kitchen in stainless steel. 

Each of the 22 luxurious en suite guest bedrooms has its own sitting room and kitchenette.   

The estate’s private wellness center has an indoor pool and tranquil, Asian-inspired gardens. The third building houses the luxurious guest suites, as well as separate quarters for staff.   

4. The Bella Vista Estate in Summerland, California 

Gloriously inset between the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ynez Mountains, this world-class polo estate spans 20 resplendent acres in the hillside beach town of Summerland, between Carpinteria and the celebrity enclave of Montecito.  

The Bella Vista Estate pays homage to the 18th-century villas of Italy and France. The 27,000-square-foot, 12-bedroom, 25-bathroom Neoclassical manor house is grandly appointed and offers lavish vistas of the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ynez Mountains—perhaps best observed from the 34-foot-high marble entrance hall.  

The grounds are exquisitely landscaped gardens with streams, ponds, a waterfall, and two terraces, all designated as habitat for Monarch butterflies. Complementing the regulation polo field (approximately 10 acres) are the clubhouse and lounge, a 330-yard driving range, putting green, and sand trap kitted with swing analytics equipment. 

Further highlights include a 20-seat movie theater, sports bar, disco/ballroom for up to 200 guests, a 5,000-bottle wine cellar with an adjoining tasting room, a beauty salon, a gym and spa, an Olympic-length infinity pool, a helicopter hangar, and a 32-vehicle automobile gallery. 

Related: Discover Luxury Cottages and Cabins to Call Home

5. Winterslow Farmhouse in Wiltshire, England 

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This handsome red brick farmhouse on eight lovely acres by the Wiltshire village of Winterslow has been impeccably restored, updated, and extended for the contemporary equestrian lifestyle.   

The gracious double-aspect drawing room has a bay window to the front and a fireplace. Double doors lead from the drawing room to a skylighted orangery for both morning and afternoon sunshine.  

A large bay window illuminates the dining room, served by a newly installed Neptune kitchen, with custom appliances and central island fitted for a range cooker. An adjacent rear lobby, with laundry room and boot room, accesses the rear courtyard. Also to the rear of the ground floor is a study/library and downstairs powder room. The four ample bedrooms on the upper levels include the principal bedroom, a second en suite, and a family bathroom. 

The grounds are a mix of lawns and wildflower meadows, with an ornamental pond and parterre garden at the front of the house. Outbuildings include a newly built barn with a five-car garage, a detached party barn with a studio/atelier, kitchen, sitting room and bathroom, and a detached gym/office with subterranean wine cellar and a four-stall stable block. 

The property is on the edge of the village and its secluded locale accesses many walks and bridleways into the rambling countryside, including the Iron Age hillfort Figsbury Ring. Stonehenge is about 15 miles northwest. 

6. Whitehall Ranch in Navasota, Texas 

Whitehall Ranch rambles elegantly across its 650 wooded acres, dedicated to breeding and training polo horses, cattle ranching, and sustaining wildlife—with environmental sensitivity. 

The main house, built in 2015, is a brilliant contemporary design for ranch living, with all manner of luxuries, executed in a cool white color scheme. Its vast open-plan living space, accented by a stunning, conical, steel-hooded hearth, has soaring ceilings, expansive windows, and indoor-outdoor living spaces all served by a stainless steel island kitchen. Office space, a games room and media lounge adjoin. 

All told, the five separate living quarters—including the pool house, guest houses, and bunkhouses—provide 15 comfortable bedrooms, 12 full bathrooms and two partial baths.  

Equine (and bovine) creature comforts include large, open horse stalls, barns, a turnout paddock, and big pastures sustained by a dedicated hay-production operation. There is a private lake and a wildlife pond on the property. 

Outdoor amenities include a regulation polo field, a heated saltwater pool, a skeet range, and a “personal” helipad. All this is just an hour from Houston, two hours from Austin, and 2.5 hours from San Antonio.  

7. Norwood on Hamilton Harbour, Pembroke Parish, Bermuda 

One of Bermuda’s historically significant homes, Norwood on Hamilton Harbour is a 3.7-acre waterfront estate built on land deeded to the English mathematician and surveyor Richard Norwood: "Bermuda’s outstanding genius of the seventeenth century." 

The main house was built in the early 1700s by sea captain Samuel Saltus. Typical of Bermudian architecture of the period, it has retained its cruciform shape, thick limestone walls, pointed gables, stepped chimneys, eyebrow windows, and elegant interiors, including the staircase and original wig-powdering rooms. The wide wraparound veranda overlooking Hamilton Harbour is a 19th-century addition. 

Renovations over the last 20 years have brought Norwood up to date while respecting its period character. Flanking the main house is Norwood Mews, a one-bedroom guest apartment. Nearby are the Carriage House studio apartment and garage; and The Stable, with its tack room and multiple stalls. 

The grounds provide a paddock (formerly a tennis court), a swimming pool, old stone walls, gardens, orchards, a deepwater dock, and a registered, protected mooring. 

Dreaming of the equestrian lifestyle? Start here.