Stradishall Suffolk hotels:

The National Stud is situated two miles from Newmarket, headquarters of British racing. Facilities include accommodation for eight stallions and up to 200 mares in nine separate yards. The stud has its own feedmill and 500 acres of land providing post and rail fenced grazing. The stud offers a comprehensive range of services to the breeder, including stallions at stud, seasonal and permanent boarding, sales preparation and quarantine for export. In addition the stud provides a range of industry services, training courses, annual fair and stallion parades. The National Stud is also a showcase for the British breeding industry welcoming visiting delegations from overseas, television crews and journalists, equine and agricultural college groups plus thousands of visitors who join our guided tours each Spring and Summer. Those who want to find out more about the industry have the opportunity to join one of the popular National Stud clubs, which give members the chance to join in and learn for a modest investment. Further information on each aspect of our business can be found by opening the pages of our website. The National Stud was founded in 1916 when Colonel Hall Walker, later Lord Wavertree, offered his bloodstock to the British Government on the condition that it purchased his breeding establishment at Tully in County Kildare, Ireland. His stud included more than 40 well-bred mares and had bred King Edward VIIs Epsom Derby winner Minoru, the Oaks winner Cherry Lass and many other top-class horses. The Government accepted the offer on the understanding that the maintenance of first-class foundation stock would ensure the breeding of high quality light horses for the Army.While the increasing mechanisation of the Army between the two World Wars reduced the importance of this original function, the Government retained the stud for the purpose of breeding high-class thoroughbreds. Operating along commercial lines, the stud sold the majority of its produce as yearlings at public auction, retaining only those fillies required for future breeding and leasing them for their racing careers.