Where It All Began
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Following his marriage in 1200 to Cassandra, daughter of the Lord of the Manor of Exning, Sir Richard de Argentein started a ‘new market’ on the land he received in his dowry. So the town of Newmarket entered written history.
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In 1605, James I took part in hare coursing near the village of Fordham. Recognising Newmarket Heath as “prime sporting country”, he purchased what is now the Rutland Arms in Newmarket High Street and built the first royal palace in the town.
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It is said that James I’s courtiers raced a breed of Spanish horses on the Heath, descendants of the defeated Armada washed up on the shores of Galloway.
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Charles I, who reigned from 1625 to 1649, had the first grandstand built on the Heath.
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Racing at Newmarket took off during the reign of Charles II after he was restored to the throne in 1660. He had a passion for the sport, built Palace House near the Rutland Arms and moved the royal court to Newmarket every year.
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Charles established the Town Plate, the first horserace ever run in Britain under written rules. It still takes place on the July Course every August.
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Charles’s favourite hack was called Old Rowley, a nickname that was also given to the king himself. Hence the Rowley Mile Racecourse got its name.
