Introduction
Autumn at Newmarket brings a return to racing on the Rowley Mile, racing's hallowed turf on the "Course of Champions", from late September until the end of October (or some years early November).
After the summer season on the July Course, just a mile away across Newmarket's world famous Heath, the Rowley Mile has had three and a half months to recover from the spring season and the turf is invariably in fantastic shape for an autumn packed full of top class races.
Newmarket's spring and summer seasons each feature two Group 1 races, the highest class contests in the world racing calendar. The autumn, however, sees a sensational five Group 1 contests run on the Rowley Mile!
Newmarket's 2010 autumn season starts with a two-day fixture on Friday 17th and Saturday 18th September, the first of which is the only day in Britain to be made up exclusively of two-year-old races.
Autumn takes off from Thursday 30th September to Saturday 2nd October with the scintillating Cambridgeshire Meeting, featuring the Group 1 Shadwell Middle Park Stakes and Group 1 Electrolux Cheveley Park Stakes on the Friday and the Group 1 Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes, plus one of the most competitive and coveted handicaps of the season, the historic totesport.com Cambridgeshire, on the Saturday.
The three days of the Cambridgeshire Meeting will again host the East of England Festival of Food & Drink which is guaranteed to make this historic race meeting very appetising indeed!
Two weeks later comes the two-day Champions' Meeting, starting on Friday 15th October, as the British flat racing season builds to its sensational climax on Champions' Day, Saturday 16th October. This is the highest class raceday in the entire calendar, featuring two Group 1 races (the Emirates Airline Champion Stakes and the Dubai Dewhurst Stakes), two Group 2 contests and two Group 3 races, plus the ultra-competitive totesport.com Cesarewitch Handicap. Over £1m is on offer for this sensational day's racing.
The season closes with another two-day fixture on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th October,the latter featuring three Listed Races, as the curtain comes down on another fantastic year at the Home of Racing.
The modern and imposing Rowley Mile boasts world class facilities as well as world class racing. Today’s course is identified by the magnificent Millennium Grandstand, opened by the Queen in 2000. It dominates the skyline as you approach the course, a far cry from the facilities that would have existed in the 17th century when Charles II used to watch the races from the famous Bushes, which still exist today about a furlong and a half from the winning post.
Everyone is welcome at the Rowley Mile and we hope that you will have the opportunity to come here this autumn to enjoy the most authenic racing experience in the world and sample the magic of the Home of Horseracing. In racing, where obsession knows no boundaries, Newmarket is a breed apart.
Click here to find out more about Newmarket, the historic Home of Horseracing.