As 2023 draws to a close it has been another year of success for the town of Newmarket in the sport of horseracing.
William Buick, who was crowned champion Flat jockey for the second time on QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on October 21st, is based in the town as are John and Thady Gosden, who hold an unassailable lead in the UK Flat trainers’ championship (which officially concludes on December 31st).
It was also another memorable year on the track at both of Newmarket’s racecourses – the Rowley Mile and July Course. The great Frankie Dettori, who was riding in his final UK season, secured a final QIPCO 2000 Guineas aboard Chaldean while QIPCO 1000 Guineas heroine Mawj, trained in Newmarket by Saeed bin Suroor, went on to success at the very highest level in North America and ended the year with a narrow defeat in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita, California. Newmarket’s summer highlight, the Pertemps Network July Cup, was won by Shaquille who ended 2023 by being crowned Champion Sprinter at the prestigious Cartier Racing Awards.
The town of Newmarket has been known as the headquarters of Flat racing since the formal establishment of The Jockey Club in 1750 and remains totally unique in terms of its provision of communal gallops and training facilities. These facilities which comprise 2500 acres of managed training grounds and 50 miles of turf gallops are entirely unique, and the quality and variety of the spaces for training racehorses is a crucial factor in Newmarket’s continuing success as a training centre.
More broadly, the horseracing industry approximately 3,600 full-time equivalent jobs through direct employment, and many more through indirect employment, for example at Newmarket Racecourses’ events, Tattersalls sales and The National Horseracing Museum.
The most recent report on the economic impact of the horseracing industry around its international home in Newmarket, revealed that in 2017 alone, racing and breeding contributed more than £250million per annum to the local economy – a figure that grows year-on-year.
Amy Starkey, Managing Director of Jockey Club Racecourses, said: “I would like to congratulate both William Buick and John and Thady Gosden on their championship achievements.
“It has been another tremendous year in Newmarket, both at the two racecourses and as a training centre with success across the world for horses trained in the town. The training and racing of horses here remains a year-round commitment and as The Jockey Club we are extremely proud to play our part in not only our home, but the global headquarters of Flat racing.
“Of course we also said farewell to the great Frankie Dettori, and it was fitting that he enjoyed success right up to the end at what was his ‘home’ track with Chaldean winning the QIPCO 2000 Guineas and Inspiral in the Virgin Bet Sun Chariot Stakes.”
