Newmarket Racecourse Guide

Newmarket racecourse is the home of British flat racing. The racecourse is one of the oldest in the world and many of Britain's preeminent trainers are based in the village of Newmarket.

The most famous of the two tracks at Newmarket is the Rowley Mile, on which the Guineas Festival takes place. Newmarket also houses a second track, the July Course, which stages important races during the summer months.

The first two Classics of the season are staged at Newmarket, as the Guineas Festival takes place on the Rowley Mile. During the autumn, the Rowley Mile hosts historic Group One races like the Cheveley Park Stakes, the Middle Park Stakes, the Dewhurst Stakes and the Sun Chariot Stakes.

In the height of the summer, racing switches to the July Course. The most famous meeting staged on Newmarket's second track is the July Festival, which features the Falmouth Stakes and the July Cup. 

Newmarket's premier track, the Rowley Mile is right-handed and can stage races up to two-and-a-half miles long. The right-handed bend occurs 11 furlongs from the finish line, so races over shorter distances are run on a straight track.

The Rowley Mile is known for its undulations. Around three furlongs from home, runners descend into a pronounced dip and the final couple of furlongs feature a fairly steep uphill incline.

The July course is no-less undulating and climbs steadily uphill throughout the home straight. The July Course is also right-handed and over two miles long. There's also a chute leading onto the home-straight around the one-mile marker.

Given the testing nature and the stiff, uphill finish on both tracks, front-running tactics often pay off at Newmarket. 

On the Rowley Mile, depending on where the stalls are placed, the field often converges towards either the inside or stand's side rails. Generally, the stands' rail is the quicker section of the track, so it pays to follow runners drawn high in big handicaps. 

It's a similar case on the July course, where front-runners often favour the quicker strip along the stand's rail.

The man to follow at Newmarket is Charlie Appleby. No trainer has saddled more winners on either the Rowley Mile or the July Course over the past five years than Appleby, who strikes at 28% over both courses.

Fellow Godolphin representative, Saeed Bin Suroor has won with 32% of his runners on the July Course since 2017. It also pays to follow John Gosden, who wins with around 20% of his runners on both the Rowley Mile and the July Course.

William Buick, the number one jockey for Godolphin, has won over twice as many races on the Rowley Mile as the next best jockey in the standings. Buick boasts a superb strike rate of 27% on the Rowley Mile, while also winning with 24% of his rides on the July Course in recent years.

Another regular rider for Godolphin, James Doyle leads the jockey standings on the July Course. Oisin Murphy and Frankie Dettori also ride the tracks at Newmarket particularly well.

Newmarket is one of the world's oldest and most famous racing venues. Racing first took place at flat racing HQ in 1667 and the village of Newmarket remains synonymous with horse racing.

Along with the Rowley Mile and the July Course, there is also a third course at Newmarket, the Round Course. Originally known as the King's Plate Course, this track is only used once a year for the Newmarket Town Plate, a race of great historical significance, but limited importance in to official racing authorities.

Most of the major meetings held at Newmarket throughout the flat season were officially created in the 1700s. The 2000 Guineas first took place in 1809, with the 1000 Guineas taking place five years later. 

Newmarket Racecourse

Newmarket

Suffolk

CB8 0TF

By Road - The racecourse sits in the south of the village. You can get to Newmarket using the A11 and the A1304. Both the course and the villa itself are well sign-posted.

By Rail - Newmarket train station is serviced by London Liverpool Street and the Cambridge line. A shuttle bus service runs on race days to take racegoers from the train station to the racetrack.

By Air - The closest airport to Newmarket racecourse is Cambridge airport. Newmarket is also 33 miles away from London Stanstead airport.