By Emma Berry
'Yes, this is where it all began,' proclaimed racing poet Henry Birtles in his ode to Newmarket written to commemorate 350 years of racing in the town.
The great East Anglian expanse of heath has in fact been the scene for horses to be pitched in athletic battle for more than 350 years, with the first recorded race in Newmarket stretching as far back as 1622. But 1666, when racing's first great royal patron Charles II returned to Newmarket following the restoration of the monarchy, was the start of racing under rules as we now know it, and has thus sparked major celebrations in the town that is rightly considered to be the headquarters of horseracing. The place where it all began.
Those subjected to the icy chill of the fierce east wind blasting across the Rowley Mile on Saturday might well have wondered why the Merry Monarch didn't settle upon a more sheltered spot in which to indulge his favourite pastime. And while the Cotswold valley of Cheltenham and the rolling downland of Goodwood may provide more picturesque backdrops to a day at the races, the sheer starkness of Newmarket Heath allows the focus to be completely on the action unfolding across the turf which has cushioned the hooves of thoroughbreds for generations.
The QIPCO Guineas Festival is Newmarket's most prized jewel: two days of first-class racing which give us our first two Classic winners of the fresh racing year. The 2000 Guineas has been in existence for more than 200 years, with Wizard taking the first running in 1809, and the 1000 Guineas for fillies being added to the calendar five years later.
In launching the 350th anniversary celebrations at the Rowley Mile on Saturday, Newmarket's mayor and one of the town's 80 trainers, John Berry, spoke of the “unrivalled and uninterrupted tradition of racing excellence, to the extent that Newmarket is not just HQ of British racing, but HQ of the entire racing world”.
That continuity included the temporary adoption of all five British Classics during the First and Second World Wars. 'Keep calm and carry on' was the famous wartime message from the government to the people of Britain. Racing's masters followed it to the letter, and Newmarket Heath remained unploughed and unbowed.
The Rowley Mile now plays host to the start of the QIPCO Champions Series, lavishly sponsored by one of the sport's most enthusiastic new supporters, Sheikh Fahad Al Thani, in association with two of his brothers. The sheikh, currently in training to ride in Newmarket's oldest race––the 3 ¾-mile Town Plate which this year will be staged a month early during the July Festival––led the celebrations of the town's long association with horseracing by placing his racing silks in a time capsule to be buried at the course while the local community choir sang Land Of Hope And Glory and a nod to Newmarket's wartime connection was provided by a fly-past of two Spitfires.
Festivities complete, the racecourse returned to business as usual, with that business principally being the very serious one of the first colts' Classic of the season.
While one bubble was properly burst with the lacklustre run from the 2015 champion 2-year-old Air Force Blue (War Front), perhaps appropriately the Guineas stayed at home this year to further enhance the reputation of one of Newmarket's fastest rising young trainers, Hugo Palmer.
Less than a year ago, Palmer saddled his first Classic winner across the Irish Sea when Covert Love (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}) romped home in the Darley Irish Oaks. Any disappointment at the filly missing out on the Middleton S. at York later this month will have been temporarily assuaged by the assertive victory of Galileo Gold (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}).
The chestnut colt was the first horse Palmer trained for the sponsors' cousin Sheikh Joaan Al Thani and he presented his new owner with a Group-race victory on his first start in his colours when landing the G2 Qatar Vintage S. at Goodwood last year. The importance of this victory for Al Shaqab's burgeoning stallion operation cannot be underestimated and it certainly wasn't lost on the trainer. Usually assured and loquacious in post-race interviews, Palmer was visibly shaking as he tried to put into words the immensity of the occasion of his first British Classic success in his own back yard.
As the hoopla continued in the winner's enclosure, standing slightly adrift of the celebrating hordes was a man who can only have felt very mixed emotions at Galileo Gold's success. Colin Murfitt owned the colt for his first three runs after he was purchased as a yearling at Tattersalls Ireland for €33,000. Victorious in his second and third starts, Galileo Gold was brought to the attention of Al Shaqab Racing, which purchased him privately from Murfitt prior to the colt's first Pattern win.
“I used to own him,” said Murfitt with a wry smile as he gazed at Galileo Gold.
A presumably sizeable cheque would have gone some way to easing the blow of letting go of a future Classic winner, but that is nothing compared to the fact that Murfitt, through his Pantile Stud in Soham, bought Galileo Gold's dam Galicuix (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) carrying his full sibling for just 8,000gns in Decmber 2013. Her subsequent filly topped the DBS Premier Yearling Sale last August at £280,000 and now, named Choumicha (GB), she has been placed in training alongside her brother at Palmer's stable by her owners Saleh Al Homaizi and Imad Al Sagar.
Murfitt reported the 8-year-old Galicuix to be in good order and, with two colts by Champs Elysees (GB) on the ground, she has recently been covered by Oasis Dream (GB).
Galicuix's pedigree is one of the major factors pushing Palmer towards considering a Derby tilt for his prized colt.
“His dam's by Galileo and his fourth dam is Floripedes (Fr), who is the dam of Montjeu. Between them, Galileo and Montjeu have been responsible for plenty of Derby winners,” said the trainer wistfully as he thought ahead to his next major-race target.
Galileo Gold's jockey Frankie Dettori, who notched his fourth 2000 Guineas victory 20 years after his first on Mark Of Esteem (Ire), was less convinced of the free-running colt's staying powers, saying after the race,” I think he should get a mile and a quarter but we'll all have to sit down and talk about where he goes next.”
Palmer's season has started in terrific fashion, and the same can be said for a member of Newmarket's senior guard, Sir Michael Stoute, who knows all about training Derby winners and has a contender for this year's race who has the pedigree to match the faultless start he has made to his racing career. Midterm (GB), the Galileo first foal of Juddmonte's outstanding middle-distance mare Midday (GB), is now as short as 6-1 to become Stoute's sixth winner of the Derby 35 years after Shergar (Ire) became his first.
The form of the stable was given another boost on Saturday by the progressive Juddmonte homebred Exosphere (GB) (Beat Hollow {GB}), who was pulling double at the rear of the field of the G2 Dunaden at Overbury Jockey Club S. before being unleashed by Ryan Moore to put four lengths between himself and last year's St Leger winner Simple Verse (Ire) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}).
With two winners on the Guineas card for Godolphin, it's plain that racing is now not just the Sport of Kings, but of sheikhs and princes, too. Most importantly, racing continues after an unbroken 350 years in the place where it all began.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
