Newmarket Racecourse Tips & Stats Guide
We take a closer look at the Rowley Mile & July Course
Craig Jones
Newmarket is regularly described as ‘the headquarters of British horseracing’ due to being home to the country’s largest cluster of training yards.
Fittingly, Newmarket is also home to not one but two racecourses - the Rowley Mile and the July Course.
Both are wide galloping tracks used only for flat racing. Because of their proximity to the country’s leading training establishments, there are an abundance of Group races staged throughout the year and winning any race at the so-called ‘HQ of flat horse racing’ is very difficult.
No less than nine Group 1 races are staged at Newmarket every year, including the first two Classics of the season - the 1000 Guineas and 2000 Guineas.
Newmarket Tips for Today
It’s the final day of the Craven Meeting at Newmarket, which includes the feature race, the Craven Stakes, live on ITV Racing at 3:35pm.
Our tipping experts Alan Kelly and Charlie McCann have free Newmarket tips on-site, including Alan’s Nap of the Day, and selections at 16/1 and 14/1 - click on their links below for full details!
Check out more from the Freebets horse racing hub, including tips, stats, market movers and today’s racecards!
We also highlight two potential betting angles to look at when placing your Newmarket bets.
Local Talent
Local trainers have an enormous advantage at Newmarket Racecourse. Not only do their horses need to travel just a few miles to get to the course, but Newmarket is home to some of the top flat trainers in the country, including John & Thady Gosden, Charlie Appleby, and Sir Michael Stoute.
As a rule of thumb, many of the Listed and Group races are won by local stables, and you should always respect any horses which have been heavily backed in maiden races.
Luck of the Irish
Aidan O’Brien’s horses are no strangers to Newmarket and are always popular with punters, so keep an eye out for any of his runners being well-supported in the betting.
Top Newmarket Jockeys
William Buick is the man to follow at Newmarket - the reigning Champion Jockey has a 31% strike rate this year and is showing an £18 profit to £1 level stakes on his rides at the course in 2023.
Top Newmarket Trainers
He may not be saddling as many runners as years gone by, but Sir Michael Stoute knows what it takes to train a winner at Newmarket - he’s operating at a 33% strike rate at the course this year.
Newmarket Free Bets & Betting Offers
With top-quality racing action throughout the flat season, Newmarket is a regular on ITV Racing, meaning plenty of betting offers from the leading online bookmakers.
As top bookmakers sponsor many of the top races at Newmarket, expect to see plenty of Newmarket free bet offers and enhanced odds on the action.
Currently, bet365 and BetGoodwin have some generous welcome offers that are worth checking out.
Newmarket Racecourse Layout & Info
Newmarket Racecourse is located in Suffolk, England, about 13 miles from Cambridge.
The Rowley Mile Course has a 1 mile 2 furlong straight with some undulations and a small dip around a furlong from the finish. This course, with excellent facilities, is used for racing in the spring and autumn, and it hosts seven Group 1 races, including the 1000 and 2000 Guineas.
The wide nature of the Rowley Mile means it hosts the Cambridgeshire Handicap and the Cesarewitch Handicap, which both have a maximum field size of 35, making them the largest race fields in the UK after the Grand National.
Rowley Mile Notable Features
- The running rails are regularly moved to different parts of the track, so it is difficult to identify any draw bias.
- One of the best Newmarket betting tips is to watch the races staged earlier on the same day and see if you can spot if any draw bias has become apparent.
- The gruelling final 150 yards often sap the stamina of pace-setters, so don’t count your winnings until your horse actually crosses the line.
- Close finishes and heart-breaking short-head defeats are commonplace on the Rowley Mile course.
The nearby July Course, which has separate grandstands and facilities, has a mile straight, often called ‘The Bunbury Mile’, which is raced downhill for most of the way, but it does have a final furlong, which is an incline.
July Course Notable Features
- The wide-open nature of the July Course race track means there is no great draw bias on this course.
- Front runners have a strong record on the July Course. In fact, pacesetters on the Bunbury Mile have one of the best records of all UK tracks.
Newmarket Top Featured Races
During the flat racing season, nine Group 1 races are run at Newmarket, including the first two Classics of the season - the 1000 and 2000 Guineas.
The table below details the Group 1 and Group 2 races that Newmarket Racecourse hosts.
| Race | Grade | Distance | Course | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dahlia Stakes | Group 2 | 1 mile 1 furlong | Rowley Mile | April/May |
| Jockey Club Stakes | Group 2 | 1 mile 4 furlongs | Rowley Mile | April/May |
| 1000 Guineas | Group 1 | 1 mile | Rowley Mile | April/May |
| 2000 Guineas | Group 1 | 1 mile | Rowley Mile | April/May |
| July Stakes | Group 2 | 6 furlongs | July Course | July |
| Princess of Wales’s Stakes | Group 2 | 1 mile 4 furlongs | July Course | July |
| Duchess of Cambridge Stakes | Group 2 | 6 furlongs | July Course | July |
| Superlative Stakes | Group 2 | 7 furlongs | July Course | July |
| Falmouth Stakes | Group 1 | 1 mile | July Course | July |
| July Cup | Group 1 | 6 furlongs | July Course | July |
| Rockfel Stakes | Group 2 | 7 furlongs | Rowley Mile | September |
| Joel Stakes | Group 2 | 1 mile | Rowley Mile | September |
| Royal Lodge Stakes | Group 2 | 1 mile | Rowley Mile | September |
| Cheveley Park Stakes | Group 1 | 6 furlongs | Rowley Mile | September |
| Middle Park Stakes | Group 1 | 6 furlongs | Rowley Mile | September |
| Challenge Stakes | Group 2 | 7 furlongs | Rowley Mile | September |
| Sun Chariot Stakes | Group 1 | 1 mile | Rowley Mile | October |
| Fillies Mile | Group 1 | 1 mile | Rowley Mile | October |
| Dewhurst Stakes | Group 1 | 7 furlongs | Rowley Mile | October |
Latest Betting Offers
Check the latest free bets and betting offers from the best betting sites in the UK at Freebets.com.
