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Spaniards Seeking Irish Bloodstock BloodstockFranco Franco Regime Orders 100 Head Breeders in fire See Revival of Sport There ThereBy By Special Correspondent DUBLIN Ireland Senator James J Parkinson widely known Irish owner breeder and trainer recently received an order from the present Spanish govern ¬ ment to purchase 100 head of thoroughbred stock horses and mares for export from Ireland to Spain A further order for 40 twoyearolds has been placed with the Irish Horse Export Company of B Kerr Dublin for shipment to the Iberian Penin ¬ sula sulaSo So many formalities hafve to be observed and such serious problems as finding ship ¬ ping space have to be solved that a con ¬ siderable time must elapse before the export of Irish horses to Spain begins Each horse for Spain will be examined by the veterinary surgeon of the Bloodstock Breeders and Horse Owners Association which also will advise the minister of agri ¬ culture on the issuing of export licenses licensesDuring During recent years only occasionally has one learned of the purchase of an ani ¬ mal for export Those rare deals do not invalidate the statement that the steady shrinkage of overseas markets during the war had reached the stage where there was nothing left to shrink Irish breeders and exporters had been seriously hit and this Spanish outlet for their stock has quick ¬ ened interest in their work With war news monopolizing newspaper space little has been published about recent developments in Spain and no Irish breeder has in ¬ formation about the number and nature of the horses at present in that country countryCivil Civil War Halted Sport It is likely that horses of thoroughbred class are far from numerous One hundred or even 50 more recruits would provide lit ¬ tle more than a stage army Thus there may be a useful trade for this country until the Spanish stables have been re ¬ plenished and brought up to strength strengthUntil Until the civil war which started in 1936 there was racing in Spain but the Blood stock Breeders Review which is a reliable guide to such activities gave it little if any attention Thus the sport can not have been even close to the class of that in France Italy Germany Austria and Hungary Nevertheless animals of good breeding were finding their way to the Spanish race tracks There was evidence of this in the overseas successes credited to the progeny of sires and dams in this country and England EnglandIt It is impossible to say where the chief centers of racing will be after the present war and it may be that modern Spain has ambitions to provide some of the best of them If that proves the case Irish horse ¬ men say Good luck to you Spain par ¬ ticularly if Spain continues to come to Ireland for her racing stock stockMagnificent Magnificent Course at Madrid MadridIt It is a fact that during the first World War and the years following the late King Alfonso then the ruler was enthusiastic about developing horse racing in Spain The sport there received a splendid fillip in the advent of good Frenchbred horses from 1915 to 1918 The great Frenchbred sire Teddy is said to have run most of his races in Spain A magnificent race course was laid out at Madrid during the period of prosperity that the last World War brought td Spaniards Another course was built at the seaside resort of San Sebas ¬ tian and still another at neighboring Santander SantanderKing King Alfonso bought a large stable of horses and imported as his trainer the Belgian Adolf de Neuter The latters son inlaw the American Lucien Lyne was his jockey Both proved assets to the Royal stable For several years following the war racing had a great vogue in Spain and big prizes were offered There was one prize of approximately 20000 pounds about 100000 an international event run at San Sebastian But the boom in Spanish racing was comparatively short lived when the Spaniards returned to their old love the bull ring ringBull Bull fighting is the national sport of Spain but there is room for horse racing and apparently General Franco and his government are intent on reviving the sport of kings in the Iberian Peninsula a sporting step in the right direction
