How racing celebrated VE Day in style with a bumper crowd for 1,000 Guineas day

On Thursday, the end of the war in Europe will be remembered with a flurry of beacon lighting, a flypast or two, an outpouring of national pride and, no doubt, a pouring of many pints way past normal licensing hours.

The sentiments will be very much the same as they were on that historic day, although with 80 years having passed since the long-awaited cessation of hostilities, victory in Europe may not resonate quite the way it did when King George VI took to the balcony of a bomb-hit Buckingham Palace to thank the nation for its six years of resilience.

Both the King and prime minister Winston Churchill reminded a delighted audience that victory over Japan had yet to be achieved, and that a brief period of rejoicing would necessarily be followed by further "toils and efforts", but across the land the shackles had already been removed and joy abounded, not least among the racing community, for whom the announcement of peace came just in time for the onset of the Classic season.

The King and Queen with Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on VE Day in 1945Credit: Getty Images

On VE Day, May 8, 1945, the 1,000 Guineas was run on Newmarket's July course because the Rowley Mile was closed for the duration. Warm favourite for the race was Sun Stream, readied by Lord Derby's private trainer Walter Earl and led on the short walk from Stanley House Stables by Gerry Blum – then a 21-year-old apprentice and later a Newmarket trainer – against a backdrop of flags, bunting and joyful servicemen anticipating a return to civilian life.

"The stands were packed," recalled Blum in a 2005 interview with the Racing Post. "It was a Tuesday, a public holiday, and although the Rowley Mile was still being used as a base for bombers, people were laughing and joking all around the town. Newmarket raced virtually once a fortnight during the war, but I never saw a crowd quite like the one on VE Day."

Given that Sun Stream had a reputation as a 'bit of a madam', the young man had been expecting a battle of wills, but despite the feverish atmosphere, the threatened conflict never arose.

"She was a very difficult filly to handle – a typical daughter of Hyperion and often a right cow," he explained, "but she behaved beautifully on the walk to the track and in the race she was brilliant, going easily all the way, making up ground quickly into the Dip and then winning hard-held under Harry Wragg by three lengths."

It was a success impressive enough to grace such a momentous occasion, and while it was a profitable day for Blum, the real reward lay in the universal rejoicing.

"Two years earlier I'd led up the same owner's Herringbone when she won the 1,000 Guineas and we'd had a good party that night," he said, "but 1945 was special, simply unforgettable, and not just because I got a nice present from Lord Derby.

"He gave me £40 – in those big old white fivers and a lot of money to an apprentice in those days – but that amazing afternoon in 1945 is what was most memorable."

Connections of Sun Stream weren't the only ones partying on that magical dayCredit: Corbis via Getty Images

It was a third 1,000 Guineas victory for Wragg, one of three champion jockeys to ride winners at Newmarket that afternoon, the others being Doug Smith and Gordon Richards.

Wragg and Smith were in the army but stationed in England, medically barred from combat duties, so they were given enough passes for them to continue as jockeys. Richards, in the 18th of his 26 championship seasons, was medically unfit for military service because he had suffered from tuberculosis, so he had joined the Home Guard.

Ryan Price, meanwhile, whose heroics on D-Day were the stuff of legend, was with his Commando unit in Germany but, feeling exhausted, the future five-time champion trainer went to bed and slept for a week, missing out on the celebrations.

One future champion who did celebrate properly was 19-year-old Princess Elizabeth (champion owner in 1954 and 1957), who, with her younger sister Margaret, was allowed by their father King George VI (champion owner in 1942) to leave Buckingham Palace and join the crowds in the streets.

Many of racing's past and future stars were still scattered throughout the world and unable to enjoy the moment as the celebrations gathered pace back home. Ryan Price's future stable jockey, Fred Winter, was 18 and in the army in Palestine. Private Charlie Smirke and Captain Dick Hern were in the army in Italy, with Hern, then a captain in the North Irish Horse regiment, planning an unofficial race meeting at Ravenna in northern Italy with Michael Pope, his fellow officer and future racehorse trainer, rounding up a varied collection of more than 100 horses at a track that had been used for trotting.

Hern said many years later: “First of all we had to clear the mines. We got the German prisoners out of the cage to do that. We filled in the shell holes and harrowed the ground. It was in fact quite a passable dirt track, four furlongs round.” The unofficial meeting eventually took place in July.

Dick Hern: "First of all we had to clear the mines. We got the German prisoners out of the cage to do that"

Other racing men were involved to varying degrees as the conflict in Europe drew to a close, although Bruce Hobbs, who had won both the Grand National (aged 17) and the Military Cross (in North Africa), had been invalided out of the army and, on VE Day, was helping to train Fulke Walwyn's horses. Dick Francis was an RAF pilot on fighter escort duty. 'Monkey' Blacker – the future General Sir Cecil Blacker, deputy senior steward of the Jockey Club and pioneer of all-weather racing – commanded his regiment in north Germany.

The brutal war against Japan, however, continued, so many racing personalities could not rejoice. They included Bill Wightman, who had been a prisoner of war in Borneo for three years. He was severely underweight when released after VJ Day, August 15, but recovered to resume his distinguished training career.

Wightman was reluctant to talk about the horror of his experiences, but in an interview with John Oaksey he said: “Those last few months we were burying friends every day, but for those lucky enough to survive I suppose it was, in a way, a wonderful experience. At least I reckon to know roughly how a horse must feel after being given a really hard race.”

The day after VE Day the 2,000 Guineas was won by Court Martial, who beat Dante by a neck. Dante was an outstanding champion, but defective vision in his left eye had manifested itself a few days before and it cost him the Guineas because he was drawn highest of the 20 runners and could not see his rivals.

Racing did not revert to normal immediately after VE Day, and the following month the Derby and Oaks were run on the July course for the sixth consecutive year. Dante won the Derby decisively but never ran again; he was the last Derby winner trained in the North (by Matt Peacock at Middleham). Sun Stream completed a Classic double in the Oaks.

Britain was a long way from being over World War II, but horse racing had done its bit to ensure that the official end of the conflict in Europe was welcomed in style.

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