Newmarket Races

Claimed to be the greatest horse racing centre in the world, Newmarket, home of the Newmarket Races, is said to be where horse racing first began - with the first Newmarket Races recorded to have taken place at Newmarket on the 18th of March 1622. This race was a match race between a horse belonging to the Marquis of Buckingham and a horse belonging to Lord Salisbury. Buckingham's horse emerged as the winner, and won a prize worth £100 - considered to be a enormous sum by the standards of the time. The Newmarket course is one of 14 racecourses that are owned in trust by the Jockey Club Racecourses, a organisation known for restoring and improving the facilities to a high modern standard at the courses they own. At Newmarket, there are more stable staff, racehorses, trainers, racing organisations and stud farms than anywhere else on earth, and the area in and around Newmarket boasts two racecourses, the July Course and the NatWest Rowley Mile. In addition to this, there are numerous specialist clubs, vets, schools and venues that you would expect, to meet the great demand in at the Newmarket Races.

Newmarket Races Information

There are two courses at the Newmarket Races - the Rowley Mile Course and the July Course. Both of these tracks are wide and allow for galloping - and are only used for flat racing. In the summer the July Course is used, while in Rowley Mile races in the spring and autumn. The July Course boasts a straight of a mile, which is known as "The Bunbury Mile". After two furlongs (around 400 meters), it comes to a long downhill stretch, before an uphill furlong to the finish. For longer distances, this course also uses the "Cesarewitch/Beacon" course, before again turning right into the straight. The Rowley Mile Course has a straight of 1 mile 2 furlongs (around 2,012 meters), which has minor undulations towards an area known as "The Bushes", which is two furlongs out. The penultimate furlong on the course, while the last furlong - forming a feature known to racers as "The Dip". Races that are more than the distant of 1 mile 2 furlongs start on the "Ceasarewitch/Beacon" course, like the July Course. Children under the age of 16 are admitted free into all the Newmarket Races enclosures on races days at both course, when accompanies by an adult. In the Premier Enclosure, a strict dress code is on operation - No jeans (ripped or otherwise), trainers, denim collarless shirts, beachwear, over casual or extreme attire will be permitted. Visitors are encouraged to wear jackets and ties. The dress code in the Grandstand and Paddock Enclosure is less strict, and encourages smart/casual dress.

Getting There

If arriving by road, the A14 and A11provide easy access from the major cities of East Anglia and from the A1/M1. There is ample free parking at both racecourses, with valet and premier parking also available closer to the racing action. Regular commuter services by rail run from London Kings Cross and Liverpool Street to Cambridge, Ipswich and Stansted Airport where onward connections either by road or rail can be made to the Newmarket Races. National and International visitors will be pleased to know that Stansted Airport is a 35 minute drive from the racecourse, via the M11 and A11.