The National Stud is a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

horse breeding farm located two miles from Newmarket. The Stud originated in 1916 as a result of a gift by

William Hall Walker William Hall Walker, 1st Baron Wavertree (25 December 1856 – 2 February 1933) was a British businessman, Conservative Party politician, art collector, and an important figure in thoroughbred racehorse breeding. Background Walker was a younge ...

(later Lord Wavertree) of the entire bloodstock of his stud farm in Tully, Kildare town in

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. As part of the arrangement, the British government acquired the Irish property along with Walker's training stables in England. In 1943, the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Government took over the Tully property and the Irish National Stud Company Ltd. was formed. The Irish bloodstock was then transferred to the Sandley Stud in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

. The stud's operations were expanded after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

with the purchase of a stud at

West Grinstead West Grinstead is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies just off the B2135 road four miles (6.3 km) northwest from Henfield. It is within the ancient division of the Rape of Bramber The wester ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. In 1963 the decision was made to sell the Stud's mares and operate only as a

stallion A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded (castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" nec ...

station. The two existing breeding farms were sold and operations consolidated into a single new facility built on 500 acres (2 km²) of land at Newmarket. The National Stud's charity is known as the Wavertree Charitable Trust in William Hall Walker's memory and its Wavertree House contains a number of paintings he donated from his collection of sporting

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

. Currently the National Stud facilities accommodates up to eight stallions and as many as 200 broodmares. According to its website, the stud offers a range of services to horse breeders, including stallions at stud, seasonal and permanent boarding, sales preparation and quarantine for export. A partnership between the National Stud and

Bottisham Village College Bottisham Village College is a mixed secondary school located in Bottisham, Cambridgeshire, England. The school opened in 1937 as the second village college in part of the Local Director of Education Henry Morris' vision for providing educatio ...

was proposed in connection with the school's new Trust Status as of September 2010.Appendix 2
The Bottisham Education Trust Consultation Document, 30 April 2010 (pdf) p. 11

References

The National Stud official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Stud British racehorse owners and breeders Horse racing organisations in Great Britain Horse farms in the United Kingdom Newmarket, Suffolk