A Visitors Guide to Newmarket
Newmarket Heath
Many of us are veterans of the Rowley Mile and July courses, but the city has much more to offer than just running on its venerable turf. If immersion in the equine world is your thing, there is no better place to take a ride than Newmarket; a self-contained idyll of all things horse, situated on the fringes of Cambridgeshire where flat lands give way to the shapely folds of the beautiful West Suffolk countryside. For racing people from all over the world, the place is brimming with goodness.
The limestone hills of Newmarket Heath are exceptional terrain for grooming and training horses. Local tradition says that Boadicea (Boudica), the warrior queen of the Iceni, had her camp at nearby Exning and trained her horses and chariots there on the ancient heath. Racing at Newmarket dates back to 1174, the oldest known racing venue in the modern era.
King James I greatly increased the popularity of racing at Newmarket, and King Charles I followed this by inaugurating the first cup race in 1634. An association that accelerated during the Restoration of 1660 and the reign of King Charles II, who passionately involved with the sport and the last English monarch to ride a winning race at Newmarket. The bushes on Rowley Mile mark his favorite vantage point for viewing the trail he devised for late summer and spring.
My favorite time to visit the Rowley Mile is in October on Champions Day, Europe’s highest category single-day flat race. This is a great meeting with a great mix of breeds, enhanced by manageable attendance levels. Unlike the race in Guinea, it is still relatively easy to get a good position in the paddock and for the race itself, so difficult at other times in the country.
So much for racing, but what about the city itself?
the national stud
A better place to start than with a tour of the National Stud, located next to the famous Hyperion statue near the July Course. From the moment the automatic doors open, it’s clear you’re in for a civilized experience: places are reserved by phone or email and you simply show up and pay on arrival. Here, thanks to Mr. Phil Cunningham, we get to see the new sire Cockney Rebel alongside a mixed roster that includes Bahamian Bounty and Silver Patriarch. Then there are the paddocks with the broodmares and young foals, the stallions, covering the barn, the breeding unit, the Mill Reefs statue and grave, plus the rare celebrity guest: Grand National winner Amberleigh House , has happily welcomed visitors here for several seasons.
At the National Stud they are not asked much to be told that Newmarket Hospital does not have an A&E facility; for that, you will have to visit Cambridge. On the other hand, if any of the National Stud residents require emergency care, an on-site veterinarian can be called within 8 minutes, 24/7. This, sir, is the horse town.
Newmarket data
Since Herod, Matchem and Eclipse established their reputation here, racing has grown from a hobby for a few to a massive global industry. Forty generations after the breed’s founding fathers, the city’s unique status remains and its commitment to the sport is stronger than ever:
100 veterinarians
53 farms
2 horse ambulances
Around 2,500 horses in training with 66 trainers
A world-class equine hospital and research facility
4,500 acres of land operated by Jockey Club Estates
9,000 acres of studs
2 racetracks and the longest grass straight in racing
The oldest and largest expanse of continuously manicured grassland in the world
60 miles of gallops of each description
Over 50 miles of ‘horseback rides’ linking stables and gallops
Trigger-operated lights, located at rider height, at each horse trail crossroads
On average, 2 work cyclists are fatally injured each year from galloping
Visiting the Gallops
The nature of a first encounter with Newmarket is largely determined by the season. In winter, a strange calm pervades the city, but one spring morning comes and something of its true purpose is revealed. Hundreds of racehorses emerge from hidden stables around every corner and quickly take over; on the highways, getting in and out of cars and, despite horseback riding, trotting down paths unoccupied by pedestrians.
Whatever the day, the best vantage point is from the perch of racing’s most famous gallop, Warren Hill, located near the city center off Moulton Road. The last time I was there, leaning against the railing, I looked across and found one that Cecil had set up awaiting the arrival of the owners. Here you’ll find yourself amongst other gallop spotters, owners and trainers (often mounted on the most unlikely-looking horses) as a proportion of the UK’s finest Thoroughbreds ride up the hill and back just yards from the dividing line that marks the limit of public access before 1:00 p.m.
Take Bury Road, down to Limekilns ‘Bury side’ gallop or across town to Newmarket Heath ‘Racecourse side’ and the story is the same, mile after mile of carefully tended gallop. It’s universally easy to park and watch carefully on the sidelines, ideally armed with a pair of 10×50 binoculars. Godolphin riders and staff are easily identified by their royal blue ‘Emirates’ jackets and whatever your view of where they stand in the sport, the sight of an immaculate Godolphin thong on a crisp Newmarket morning is one of the most moving sights in racing.
In the center of town, near the clock tower and BP station, is ‘The Variouss’, where numerous ropes converge for spins and exercises before crossing the Bury road to ascend Warren Hill.
Guided visits
Another way to get close to Newmarket is to sign up for a guided tour, which in most cases includes the benefit of a yard or stud tour, and admission to the National Museum of Horseracing and/or the National Stud. In all cases, prior reservation is essential:
The Newmarket experience
His calendar of events in 2008 included special visits to Sir Michael Stout’s Freemason Yard and Luca Cumani’s Bedford House Stables. They also run a number of private tours of Sheikh Mohammad’s Dalham Hall Stud, the world center of Darley’s bloodstock business, and all day racing tours culminating in a visit to Newmarket races.
Newmarket Racecourses
Provide race day tours of the Rowley Mile circuit, with options to go behind the scenes and be guided by ‘a racing legend’.
New Market Connections
Offer comprehensive tour packages for groups of 20 or more, or bespoke VIP packages for small groups of up to 6, which in addition to the above can encompass the Equine Hospital, Tattersalls Sales Paddocks, Jockey Club and British Racing School.
Hoofbeats Tours
Operated by trainer Julia Fielden’s husband, John, from his courtyard office in Exning, near Newmarket. Small informal groups of up to 6 people take a tour of the Yard, Newmarket Gallops, the British Racing School and the National Stud.
jockey club
Although the Jockey Club has now moved once again to London, two and a half centuries of equestrian tradition live on in this impressive building located at The Jockey Club Rooms, 101 High Street. From the moment you enter the elegant Georgian drawing room, you are transported back to an era of understated luxury and aristocratic privilege. With antiques and substantial works of equine art in every room Stubbs, Herring and Munning has visited here it leaves an indelible impression. Tours are organized for groups of 20 or more. High-end overnight accommodation is also available, along with options for dinner and breakfast.
Tattersall’s
I am constantly amazed at the number of race goers who take the opportunity to visit Tattersalls on sale days. It’s free, and while it’s not officially recommended, as long as you don’t bother, no one will complain if you inhabit the auction room for a bit, even if you don’t actually intend to bid on anything. There are two bars and a canteen-style dining room where, in addition to the arena, you’ll rub shoulders with a who’s who of the races. Many of the best-known trainers in the business smile earnestly (a more cynical guy would say nervously) at their wealthy clients over lunch.
Tattersalls Yearling Book 1 remains the world’s leading bloodstock auction. The auctions are also deliberately timed to coincide with the Newmarket race meetings; someone has clearly thought of this. Tattersalls’ Park Paddocks is located right in the center of town, near the train station.
West Suffolk and Stud Lands
If you’re not familiar with Suffolk, I urge you not to leave Newmarket without taking a drive through the beautiful stud farms that jut southeast from Newmarket along Duchess Drive, home to Dalham Hall and Chevely Park Studs. On one side of the road now reside: New Approach, Halling and Manduro and on the other Pivotal, Medician and Dutch Art. Continue to Saxon Street; turn left onto Cheveley Road and proceed onto Saxon Street Road and you will find Juddmont Farms Banstead Manor Stud, their European operation is now amongst others – Oasis Dream and Zamindar.
Close to the town of Dalham is the charming Affleck Arms Pub, frequented by none other than the always interesting Mr. John Egan. Follow the scent of it further southeast and the glories of the Suffolk/Essex borders await you, through old medieval towns and the quintessential English countryside. For those old enough to remember, this is the country of ‘Lovejoy’, Long Melford and incomparable Lavenham. An England of wooden structures and thatched roofs, of tall spiers and leafy chestnut trees; imagine perfect towns born from the most prosperous region of medieval England.
This then is Newmarket. A city that fields, on average, just under a third of all British race winners in a season, and many of these are concentrated in the best quality races. Newmarket in the morning is a surreal place, bustling with the activities of hundreds of centaur-like figures, nonchalant but serious, as if unaware of the danger and absurdity of responding to the dreams of rich men, teaching the horses of races to run faster. A serene equine world living happily alongside carefully drawn Arabian gentlemen in Barbour and flat caps, dimly aware of the wider commercial world, but for many only to the extent reported in the Racing Post.
And you see, I love it to pieces.
Helpful Links:
nationalstud.es
newmarketexperience.es
jockey-club-estados.es