Charlie Mills
Charlie Mills (born November 23, 1888 in Hamburg , † June 7, 1972 in Switzerland ) was a German harness racing driver , breeder and trainer who worked in France after 1945.
Life
Charlie Mills, son of the Irish trotting trainer Anthony Mills, who was hired to work on the newly built track in Hamburg-Bahrenfeld in Hamburg in 1888 , grew up as the youngest of six children in his parents' apartment right next to the Bahrenfeld trotting track. At the age of twenty-two, he won his first blue ribbon in 1910 with the diamond . Countless other victories in the German and Austrian derby followed.
In 1931 Bruno Cassirer hired him to work at his new Lindenhof stud near Templin. After 1933, Cassirer officially signed the property over to him, but the Jewish publisher kept it secret until he fled in 1938. In 1934 Mills won the Prix d'Amérique in Vincennes with the Cassirer horse Walter Dear , the most important trotting race in the world. In 1935 he acquired another stud, the Staffelde estate near Kremmen (north of Berlin), which he also owned until 1945.
Mills stayed in Germany until 1945. During the turmoil at the end of the war, most of his horses (most of which he had taken over from Bruno Cassirer) were lost, such as Walter Dear and his son Probst , who both disappeared without a trace.
In 1947 Charlie Mills left Germany for good to start a new life in France at the age of almost 60. His new stud in Chamant (north of Paris, near Senlis ) soon gained a good reputation. Renewed triumphs in the biggest races followed and he looked after countless winning horses up to his last French champion Vat . He was always enthusiastically received during his guest appearances in West Germany. His sister Minni lived at Gut Staffelde until her death in 1977.
Fundamental to the importance of Charlie Mills for harness racing were the revolutionary improvements in training methods, which led to a total of 4,364 race wins, in which Charlie Mills was involved as a driver, breeder or trainer.
When Charlie Mills died on June 7, 1972 in a Swiss hospital at the age of 84, the international trotting sport lost one of its leading figures.
Others
Since the reopening of the racetrack in Bahrenfeld on July 5, 1953, a memorial plaque has been hanging there in honor of Charlie Mills. In Hamburg there is also a street named after Charlie Mills. A residential complex with 274 rental apartments in the Hamburg district of Farmsen-Berne is named after him and is due to be completed in the second quarter of 2021.
The Charlie Mills race is held annually on the Mariendorf harness racing track in Berlin-Mariendorf .
Web links
- Hall of Fame: Charlie Mills , accessed February 26, 2017.
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://www.immobilienmanager.de/hamburg-becken-charlie-mills-quartier-an-bayerische-aerzteversorgung/150/69220/
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mills, Charlie |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German trotting driver, breeder and trainer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 23, 1888 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hamburg |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 7, 1972 |
| Place of death | Switzerland |