The Story of Alchimist
Alchimist
was born at Haras de Bois Roussel in France in 1930
and was imported to Germany.
His sire was Herold, who also won the German Derby in 1920.
Herold had 3 sons who won the same Derby: Lupus in 1928,
Dionys in 1931, and Alchimist in 1933 . Herold's sire was the
famous Dark Ronald. Alchimist's dam Aversion won many races
herself and was sired by Nuage, who also had two sons win the
Derby. So Alchimist's pedigree was royal.
As predicted, Alchimist became a famous racehorse, winning
almost all of the major German stakes races for 1932-33. Two of
his sons, went on to win the German Derby: Schwarzgold in 1940
and Birkhahn in 1948.
World War II turned Germany into a battle zone. In 1945, stallions
and mares that were evacuated from Trakehnen on their trek
westwards, initially were stabled at Graditz. In April of 1945, the
Graditz stud farm where Alchimist stood was overrun by the
invading tanks of the Red Army, who began looting the horses,
ordering them to be transported eastwards to the Soviet Union.
When Alchimist refused to be loaded onto a transport, he was
summarily shot, without regard to his fame or value. Thus the
breeding career of the leading race stallion in Germany at the
time was ended with a single bullet. For a number of years after
his death, his prepotence was so profound that his progeny
continued to make him the leading racehorse sire in Germany.
Owner: Hauptgestuet Graditz
Breeder: Hauptgestuet Graditz
Race Record: 10 Starts: Placings: 5 first – 1 second
Stakes Winner:
Deutsches Derby, Grosser Preis von Baden,
Zukunfts Rennen, Grosser Preis von Berlin,
Union-Rennen
Alchimist's pedigree chart courtesy of the
All Breed Pedigree database, a wonderful resource:
