02/07/2025
What a great story
In 1941, Newmarket came under attack.
German bombers targeted the town during a raid, aiming for the Rowley Mile racecourse, which had been taken over by RAF Bomber Command. Just down the road at Beech House Stud, one horse had a bomb shelter built especially for him.
That horse was Nearco, the Italian-bred stallion. Locals said he knew to head inside the moment the air raid sirens rang out.
Had Nearco not survived, we wouldn’t have seen horses like Northern Dancer, Arkle, Istabraq, Frankel, Sea the Stars, Black Caviar, Secretariat, Nijinsky and Sadler’s Wells.
His sire line dominates European bloodstock and has produced champions across the globe. Without Nearco, none of it would exist. A bloodline saved by a bomb shelter.