Discover Newmarket

I’ve lived in Newmarket all my life, but in reality I know very little about it. Growing up in a horseracing town when you have never ridden a horse means that I am blissfully ignorant about the most of the history and culture of the town in which I live. Luckily, things recently changed when I went on a Discover Newmarket tour to find out more about the town I call home:

Discover Newmarket is the ‘official tour guide’ for Newmarket, working to promote the town as a centre for horse-racing and everything connected to the sport. We started our tour by driving in our tour guide’s car to The Gallops and watching the horses ride out in the morning. By using a car to get around Newmarket, we were able to see most of the town from the comfort of the vehicle and I was seriously impressed with our guides’ local knowledge and gossip! After a quick driven tour past some of the key studs and buildings, we headed to The Jockey Club Rooms for a viewing of this prestigious member’s only club. There are limited opportunities to visit The Jockey Club Rooms as a member of the public, so a tour around the artwork and building was a rare treat and I was fascinated to hear about the history of this club which was so vital to Newmarket’s beginnings.

Next, I was excited to have the chance to go behind the scenes of a working stud and see the horses and trainers in the yard. The horses were, of course, beautiful and we were shown around by the head trainer, who was able to answer all of our questions, big or small. We then headed to the National Stud for a quick cup of tea followed by a tour of the stud. We were told about the famous lineages of some of the most successful racehorses and the insane amount of money involved in breeding future horseracing champions. Finally we headed to the National Horseracing Museum for a quick look around the exhibits before heading back.

We packed a huge amount in to the couple of hours spent on the Discover Newmarket tour and I left with so much more knowledge about my home town. We often neglect what’s on our doorstep and I loved the opportunity to explore and learn about the town and the horseracing industry which is so important to it. If you’re interested, check out Discover Newmarket to find out more about the various tours they offer – it’s definitely worth it!

Do you often overlook your home town? Have you ever visited Newmarket?