Introduction
Spring at Newmarket means world class racing on the Rowley Mile, the "Course of Champions", during April and May. Nine racedays will be run on the most historic stretch of turf in the entire world of sport, where equine champions have been crowned for centuries.
The glittering feature is The stanjames.com Guineas Festival on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd May 2009, when the eyes of the international racing world will be firmly focused on the Home of Racing for the first two classic races of the British flat racing season - the stanjames.com 2000 Guineas and the stanjames.com 1000 Guineas.
Reputations will be on the line as the cream of Europe's three-year-old colts and fillies stake their claim to greatness. With a host of other top races as well over the two days, The stanjames.com Guineas Festival is the biggest spring flat racing fixture in Europe.
The spring season starts with the Craven Meeting on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th April, the first big meeting of the flat season in Britain, featuring a host of trials for the classics that lie ahead. The two-day format introduced in 2007, features the best 14 races retained from the previous three day format.
In May the Rowley Mile will host a record number of fixtures - 7 in all - including racing on three of the four weekends.
The spring season ends with a three-day fixture on Friday 22nd, Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th May, the latter being Countryside Family Fun Day, when quality racing on the track combines with entertainment for all the family based around countryside activities.
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 spring 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.
Experience Newmarket
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