Historical question. British TB industry, racing and WWII

[vineyridge]

The UK was pretty badly hammered during WWII. Did racing keep on going for the duration, or did it shut down for some or all of it?

Ireland was neutral during that war, so did the UK breeding industry pack up and move across the Irish Sea until after the war and bombings were over? Or did the big breeders just keep soldiering on in the face of huge adversity? How did they manage to come up with feed, etc?

Same would be true, of course, for the French and Germans, but breeders in those countries wouldn't have had a neutral nation quite so handy as the GB breeders did.

[louis finochio]

many of the best tb were hidden from the germans, some were captured & sent to germany, they were returned after the war.

[parlo]

many of the best tb were hidden from the germans, some were captured & sent to germany, they were returned after the war.

There are two different points:

- there is a short description on racing / breeding in GB during WWII in a biography of famous trainer Sir Noel Murless written by T. Fitzgeorge-Parker. I shall quote some information from this in the days to come. Just for short what I've kept in my mind: there was a significant culling of mares because land to graze horses was needed to produce food for humans;

- after the surrender of France in 1940, several German "organizations" (Army, Foreign Office-"owned" by Rippentrop, SS, Isarland Stud-"owned" by infamous Nazi C. Weber, ...) "acquired" horses standing in French studs. Among them not only horses of French owners (Boussac, Volterra, ...), but those of British owners (f.e. Lord Derby, Aga Khan III, ...) as well.

These requisitions took place under "war time conditions": some were blackmailed / robbed by force (f. e. Pharis), for some a low prize was paid as compensation. Most of these horses and their living progeny born in Germany till 1945 and surviving the war were repatriated later on.

But there was a group of private German owners as well that bought horses in France in late 1940. These sales took place under legal circumstances - and these horses were not repatriated after WWII - although the Allied Forces tried to do this (f. e. Bramouse, Katinka, ...) .

All in all the story of the "loot horses" is difficult to discribe as there are many singular fates (of horses and men) to see. A German researcher, cooperating with PQ too, spend many years to collect and document these fates but his book is still unpublished.

[Venusian]

Flat racing continued on a very limited basis in the UK during the last war, and was restricted to about half a dozen tracks - Ascot, Pontefract and the July Course at Newmarket were three that were used.

The idea was to avoid a complete devastation of the bloodstock industry, although a lot of top stallions were sold abroad, most notoriously by the Aga Khan, who sold three Derby winners Bahram, Mahmoud and Blenheim for export.

When the Germans invaded France, they took nearly all of the Aga Khan's bloodstock from hisstud near Paris, but left Mumtaz Mahal.

UK jump racing ceased early in 1940, and didn't resume until 1945.

[parlo]

Out of the book I mentioned above:

No racing in GB from Sept, 3rd - Oct., 18th 1939 and from Jun., 19th - Sept., 14th 1940; races at Newmarket, Thirsk, Stockton, Manchester till end of season 1939.

Racing in GB till end of war on a restricted level. From 1942 onwards there was a regional restriction: races at Salisbury and Windsor just for horses trained south of the Trend, races at Pontefract and Stockton for horses trained north of the Trend, races at Newmarket only for horse trained there - exceptions: substitute classics and some major races (Gold Cup, ...). Most racing was 2yo-races, few staying races for older horses.

System of rationing of food for horses in training and at stud led to reduction of tb-population: in 1939: 3,675 foals born, in 1942: 2,282).

According to this book there was not a single NH race in GB from middle of 1942 till autumn 1944.

[wallinga]

The great German Racehorse Alchimist was killed by the russians during the war when he became difficult to control when they tried to make him a cart horse. He was turned in to butchers meat. A very sad story.

[vineyridge]

The US Army brought the great German TB stallion Nordlicht to North America as war reparations. The Cavalry Remount Corps was, I would suppose, planning on using him to breed sporthorses when the Cavalry was the source of jumpers and jumper riders for that brief period after WWII.

[parlo]

@wallinga: But you must remember that Alchimist was - as many old sires - a horse "difficult to handle" - how should the poor "mushik-soldiers" know this?


Oleander was a great German race-horse and sire, but his sire-line doesn't exist in Germany any more for some 35 years - yet it's still alive in Ukrainia and Bjelorus via his son Raufbold who found a new home in Russia after WWII.

Concerning Nordlicht we already have some information in another thread at this board.