Question about Newmarket

[pengamon]

I know when Newmarket first had racing on a Sunday-but am I right in thinking that previously (long before my time I hope!) that they never used to race on Saturdays? If that’s right-when was the first Saturday meet?

[Bulwark]

This report was in yesterdays racing post paper, dont know if it mentions when saturday racing started as just quicklty scanned it but you may find it interesting nonetheless.

Patronage of kings paved way for sport
In the first part of a week-long series on the most famous racing stronghold in the world, long-time Newmarket resident Tony Morris charts the town’s transformation from 15th century market town to today’s equine mecca
Published: 14/04/2008 (Sport) Tony Morris
THE Domesday Book, William the Conqueror’s record of the land he acquired at the Battle of Hastings, is very illuminating over that little area where present-day Suffolk and Cambridgeshire are joined. It tells us all there was to know in the year 1087 about the villages of Exning, Burwell, Fordham, Isleham, Soham, Dullingham, Stetchworth, Cheveley, Wood Ditton, Westley Waterless and Burrough Green: who owned the land, who lived there, and sundry other fascinating details.
What is missing is any mention of what now lies inside the rough circle described by those villages. Of course, it was always there, but a century and more elapsed after Domesday before the creation of a new market resulted in chunks of the former settlements becoming subsumed to form a place with its own identity – a place that would soon dominate its neighbours, and whose name would eventually be recognised the world over as the home of horseracing.
We may assume that Newmarket achieved local importance quickly, because a 14th century map featured it, while ignoring Exning and Wood Ditton, and before the end of the 15th its significance in a wider context was evident. Did a community of 275 really need more than a dozen inns?
In fact, we may be sure that those hostelries did good business – Newmarket was situated where the London to Norwich road converged with the Icknield Way and what made the little town thrive was its convenience as a staging post, a place to find refreshment and lodging, to rest or change the horses, on a journey long and tiring for both man and beast.
In an era when most of the population lived and died where they had been born, travel was the privilege of the moneyed minority, the passing trade a considerable boon to Newmarket’s economy. When King James I stopped by in 1605, finding the little town and its environs very much to his liking, the locals could hardly believe their luck, especially the landlord of the Griffin; His Majesty promptly rented the property at £100 a year, and later, more than ever enthused by the area’s ideal setting for his favourite pursuits of hare-hunting and hawking, bought it outright for £400.
Oliver Cromwell banned the sport of horseracing
The Griffin did not satisfy the King for long. He had a palace built, and when that collapsed he hired a superior architect in Inigo Jones to design a grander one. The royal imprimatur raised Newmarket’s profile to unimagined heights, his followers among the nobility inevitably finding their own delights in what found favour with the King.
Strange as it may seem, James’s delights never included horseracing, and it is doubtful if he would ever have taken an interest in the sport but for his infatuation with the young George Villiers, whom he rapidly promoted from knight to viscount to earl to marquess and finally to the dukedom of Buckingham. Racing was a passion for the young Villiers, appointed Master of the Horse in 1616, and six years later owner of one of the runners in the first recorded race on Newmarket Heath.
There is no evidence that James’s successor, Charles I, played an active role in the development of Newmarket as a centre of racing, but members of his Court were certainly enthusiastic, so that by 1627 spring and autumn meetings became a feature of the calendar. If the sport did not enthral him, his palace in the town was a regular refuge throughout his reign, and when parliamentarians went looking for him in 1647, they knew where to find him.
After the separation of Charles’s head from his body in 1649, Newmarket and racing in general were dealt what might have been similarly mortal blows. Oliver Cromwell, paranoid about large gatherings and the sedition that might ensue from them, banned the sport; the interregnum must have been one of the dullest periods in the nation’s history.
Charles II’s influence on the Sport of Kings
The restoration of the monarchy led to the restoration of much else besides, not least racing, which was renewed with immense enthusiasm in many parts of the country, including Newmarket, but for some reason Charles II did not venture to visit the town until six years into his reign.
When he did, he soon fell under its spell, acquired a couple of adjacent properties which he had converted into a new palace and, unlike his father and grandfather, became well and truly bitten by the racing bug.
The term ‘The Sport of Kings’ relates first to Charles II, who rode in matches on Newmarket Heath and won his share, established the Royal Plates, which remained a feature at numerous courses throughout the nation for two centuries, and encouraged the breeding and racing of the ‘running-horses’ whose inter-mingling with stock imported from the east was to lead to the creation of the Thoroughbred. A key figure in the emergence of the new breed was James d’Arcy, whose appointment as Master of the Royal Stud came only eight days after the King’s return from exile in 1660.
While Charles II undoubtedly had some indirect influence on what was to happen in the evolution of the Thoroughbred, much more obvious was his contribution to Newmarket, a legacy that has endured for more than three centuries. Through his patronage, and that of the nobility and gentry who were his cronies, the town thrived and the sport of horseracing found its natural home.
The origins of the breed were in the north of England, and neither Charles nor any of his successors ever used Newmarket as a base for breeding, but his establishment of the world’s first dedicated racing stables in the town was the catalyst for its emergence as the nation’s most important training centre and for the wide expanses of the Heath to become the principal proving-ground for horses trained there and elsewhere.
After Charles II there came several monarchs for whom racing was not an exciting diversion, but their apathy could not stem the progress of a sport that had captured the hearts and minds of noblemen and gentlemen.
By the time the next Royal – the Duke of Cumberland who earned fame and infamy at Culloden – had become involved, breeding the likes of Herod and Eclipse, those stalwarts had banded together to form the Jockey Club, a body which initially held jurisdiction only over the sport conducted at Newmarket.
The town map published in 1787 naturally indicated the locations of the several churches and many pubs, but its main focus was – and had to be – to show where the more than 20 racing stables were situated.
The raison d’etre of Newmarket was the racehorse, whose training ensured full employment, and the racecourse, which at various times of the year provided substantial boosts to the local economy.
Jockey Club takes on the Prince of Wales
One of the stables indicated on that 1787 map was empty a few years later as the result of a cause celebre that illustrated the clout wielded by the Jockey Club. The Prince of Wales’s horse Escape showed a remarkable turn-around in form on consecutive days in 1791, finishing last of four on the Thursday at 2-1 on, and beating five rivals easily at odds of 5-1 against on Friday. Sam Chifney, his rider on both occasions, admitted that he had backed Escape only in the second race.
This was all too much for Jockey Club steward Sir Charles Bunbury, then virtually the Dictator of the Turf, who promptly informed the heir to the throne that if he continued to employ Chifney, no gentleman would compete against him. The future George IV reacted by continuing to pay his rider a £200 retainer, selling all his horses, and resolving never to set foot on Newmarket Heath again.
In time, he did resume ownership, and his horses were once more trained and raced on the Heath, but he was never there to see them.
In fact the town did not need Prinny’s presence, it could survive William IV’s indifference, and positively thrived through the reign of Queen Victoria who was not amused by racing, and probably embarrassed by the fact that her stud bred the winners of 11 Classics. It is true that in the mid-19th century, Newmarket had a spell of 18 years without a Derby winner, but it was not as though good horses had ceased to be trained there. By the 1860s the heyday of Danebury and Malton had passed, and Newmarket’s status as the nation’s number one training centre has never since been challenged.
Nell Gwyn’s house remains intact
Of course, there have been many changes, not least in the growth of the breeding industry around the town. The statue of stallion and handler that greets visitors to the town on the approach from London and Cambridge may be deemed appropriate to the Newmarket of the 21st century, but it does not reflect the history of the town, which is all about training and racing.
In a way that’s a shame, because thanks to the Jockey Club’s stewardship of the lands to west and east of the town, there is much that Charles II would recognise today. The High Street, which connects east and west, is also as it was; only the buildings to either side have changed.
The Merry Monarch’s stables are a sad sight, in dire need of Lottery funding for their restoration, which would probably depress him, but no doubt his heart would skip a beat over the fond remembrance of times past just 20 yards up the road. Nell Gwyn’s house remains intact.
But he wouldn’t get there by carriage this week. There’s no vehicular access while they’re resurfacing the road.
Tomorrow: Newmarket through the eyes of one of its longest-standing trainers
The six greatest races ever run at Newmarket
(as chosen by Racing Post readers in our 2005 poll)
11971 2,000 Guineas
Brigadier Gerard v Mill Reef (Rated 13th overall in 100 Greatest Races) The two greatest contemporaries in racing history met for the only time, with Britain’s Horse of the Century emerging victorious thanks to his stunning turn of speed. As Mill Reef and My Swallow battled for supremacy in the centre of the course, Brigadier Gerard, on his seasonal debut, swooped on the stands’ side to score in brilliant style.
22003 Jockey Club Cup
Persian Punch (19th overall) Newmarket does not do spontaneous emotion, but after Persian Punch’s astonishing third Jockey Club Cup victory, it did.
Overtaken by three horses running past the Bushes and seemingly consigned to defeat, Persian Punch dug as deep as it is possible to dig and clawed back Millenary’s lead stride by stride. The two flashed past the post together, but to everyone’s relief the ‘right’ horse had won, and that horse was then paraded back in front of the stands to the acclaim of his adoring public.
31985 1,000 Guineas
Oh So Sharp (27th overall) Three in a line at the finish as Henry Cecil’s Oh So Sharp prevailed from Al Bahathri and Bella Colora in what remains the only British Classic decided by two short heads.
41984 2,000 Guineas
El Gran Senor (30th overall ) One of the greatest Guineas performances ever seen as the previous year’s unbeaten juvenile champion produced a telling burst of pace just over a furlong out to sweep past the front-running Lear Fan and draw well clear of his rivals, headed by Chief Singer (later a triple Group 1 winner).
51947 2,000 Guineas
Tudor Minstrel (42nd overall ) Another champion juvenile powering to victory in the colts’ Classic – and those hailing him as Horse of the Century afterwards were not far wrong. He led all the way on a tight rein and, after disposing of Petition (his only serious rival) had the race won before halfway. He cantered past the post with Gordon Richards patting his neck and tweaking his ears, and his official winning margin of eight lengths (photographs show it was at least ten) is easily the biggest seen in the race.
61886 2,000 Guineas
Ormonde (84th overall ) Unbeaten in 16 races, Ormonde was the greatest racehorse of the 19th century, and en route to the Triple Crown he overcame the brilliant Minting in this celebrated duel. The two raced side by side, their supremacy carrying them clear, but Ormonde prevailed by two lengths.

[bluechariot]

Both Guineas used be midweek. I remember as recently as the seventies

[apracing]

The 1000 Gns was staged on a Thursday up to 1994, with the 2000 Gns on a Saturday. It was 1995 when they first moved to the current Saturday, Sunday set up.

Don’t know when the 2000 Gns first moved to Saturday, but it certainly used to be midweek – before the first world war it was run on a Wednesday, with the 1000 Gns on Friday. The Epsom meeting followed the same pattern – Derby on Wednesday, Oaks on Friday and the St Leger was also run on a Wednesday in those days.

Even the Grand National used to be run on Friday and the Lincoln was on a Tuesday, which would really give the ‘why doesn’t the flat season start with a bang’ squad something to talk about!

All five classics have always been run at the same tracks apart from during the two world wars and the year Doncaster fell into a hole under the home straight.

AP

[bluechariot]

I think the 2000 moved late seventies early eighties to a Saturday
Nebbiolo in 1977 is the last 2000 on a Wednesday that I am certain of

[Drone]

The 1000 was run on Thursday until quite recently (10 years ago?) with the Friday feature being the Jockey Club Stakes, and the 2000 on Saturday.

Edit: Sorry crossed post, thanks for the precision AP

[Anonymous]

All five classics have always been run at the same tracks apart from during the two world wars and the year Doncaster fell into a hole under the home straight.
AP

Your books need updating AP; the Leger was run at York 2 seasons ago.

[apracing]

Reet,

That’s the trouble with the ageing process – you can remember details from decades ago, but the last five years are a blur !

I’d also forgotten that the Guineas were run on the July Course the year the Millenium Stand was being built.

AP

[llanrumneyboy]

Staying with the 2000 Guineas Saturday running, does anyone remember Appalache’s demise. I thought that was the early 70’s, and could have sworn it was on a Saturday because I though it coincided with the FA Cup.

Secondly, after doing some googling on the 2000 my mind was taken back to the 1980 running, definitely Saturday, when Nureyev was disqualified. Even now looking on YouTube, it seemed a very unlucky disqualiification. For all you anoraks, like myself, worth a view:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lu86_rNsvg

Lastly, my thanks to everyone on this forum who supply these gems on YouTube…keep up the excellent work.

Regards,

LlanrumneyBoy

[Venusian]

The very first Derby winner, Diomed, won on a Saturday at Newmarket in 1781 as a 4-y-o.

[Author]

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