Newmarket Open House proves a big success

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

SEPTEMBER 23, 2014

Newmarket Open House proves a big success

by Emma Berry

After an absence of more than 15 years, the Newmarket Open Day returned to

the calendar in 2012 and the last three years have seen more and more people

descend on the town for a special behind-the-scenes view of activities at

British horseracing's headquarters. Visitors on Sunday will not have been

disappointed.

Two of Newmarket's three classic winners this season were on display to the

public with the Oaks heroine Taghrooda one of six members of the John Gosden

stable to take part in exercise canters on Warren Hill along with horses trained

by Saeed bin Suroor, Sir Mark Prescott, David Simcock, Sir Michael Stoute,

William Haggas and Hugo Palmer.

The daughter of Sea the Stars was joined by fellow Group 1 winners Sultanina

(New Approach), Mukhadram (Shamardal), Estimate (Monsun), Integral  (Dalakhani),

Cavalryman (Halling) and African Story (Pivotal ), while Simcock's Canadian

Grade 1-winning duo of Sheikhzayedroad (Dubawi) and Trade Storm (Trade Fair)

were also in action following their recent return to Newmarket from Woodbine.

Kingston Hill (Mastercraftsman) didn't join the exercise party, but he proved

a huge draw for Roger Varian's Kremlin House Stables where he was paraded in

front of a large crowd wearing his winner's sheet from the previous weekend's St

Leger (Eng-G1).

On any day of the week it's possible for members of the public to park at the

epicenter of Newmarket's 2,500-acre training grounds and observe the comings and

goings of leading trainers and the town's equine inhabitants, a four-legged

population which grows to around 3,000 at the height of the Flat season. It's a

scene which never fails to inspire even those who are not diehard racing fans,

but only the most eagle-eyed of regular work-watchers would know which horses

they are looking at as string upon string of elegant bluebloods float by.

The formal staging of Newmarket's equivalent of Breakfast with the Stars '--

from numbered saddle-cloths on each horse to interviews with trainers as their

charges ascended Warren Hill's Polytrack canter in front of the gathered masses

-- is an excellent way to give race fans extra insight into a horse's daily

routine and what goes into getting them to the track in tiptop condition.

James Alexander brought his wife and two young children on the long journey

from their home in Devon for the weekend, but felt the 10-hour round trip was

worthwhile.

"We go to as many race meetings as we can and when we read about last year's

open day we decided to combine it with a trip to Newmarket races on Saturday,"

commented Alexander. "What was especially nice was how close the children could

get to the horses. We visited five yards and all the staff were very friendly

and happy to answer our questions. We've all learned a lot today."

Newmarket is of course not just famed for its racing yards but also as a

breeding center, with a number of major studs surrounding the town.

Though he is not trained in England, this season's dual Derby winner

Australia (Galileo) started life just outside Newmarket at Lord Derby's Stanley

House Stud and while he has gained a deserved following in his own right, he is

still outshone by his famous dam, Ouija Board (Cape Cross). The seven-time Group

1 winner -- whose big-race successes include the English and Irish Oaks and two

Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf wins -- returned to the place of her birth upon

retirement from racing in 2006 and now lives alongside her daughter and

Australia's full sister Filia Regina (Galileo).

Both mother and daughter were paraded for visitors to the stud throughout the

morning.

"Ouija Board is the most terrible show-off so she loved every minute of the

open day," said Peter Stanley, who manages Stanley House Stud for his brother

Lord Derby. "She felt right at home and was in her element -- it was like the

Breeders' Cup all over again. Throughout the morning we didn't even get a chance

to put her back in her stable -- there was a constant stream of visitors right

the way through and we were delighted so many people came to see her and Filia

Regina."

Added Stanley, "It's a great tribute to everyone who worked so hard to get

the open day off the ground. I had plenty of positive feedback from people who

came along and it's important for our industry to stage days like this and to

help members of the public connect with racing."

Once the racing yards had closed their doors at 12:30, events continued at

related organizations throughout the town. The British Racing School held

schooling displays with former Group 1-winning steeplechaser Our Vic (Old Vic)

which were overseen by Great Britain's eventing team coach Yogi Breisner, while

a number of jockeys, including Ryan Moore, showed off sporting skills of a

different kind on the temporary football pitch at Newmarket's Rowley Mile

racecourse.

With Tattersalls about to burst into life for its two-week October Sale,

plenty of budding bloodstock enthusiasts took the opportunity of listening in to

a talk in the sales-ring on conformation given by leading trainer John Gosden

and bloodstock agent Tom Goff. The pair have teamed up in a number of top-class

horses, including St Leger winner Arctic Cosmos (North Light), who was bought by

Goff's Blandford Bloodstock for 47,000gns at Book 2 of Tattersalls' October

Sale, and Elusive Kate (Elusive Quality), a $70,000 Keeneland September

purchase. They used another of their combined purchases, the multiple Group

winner Gregorian (Clodovil), as a live model for the presentation to 400 people.

With the number of visitors to the open day this year increasing to around

5,000 and all money raised split between four racing-related charities, it's an

event which is now firmly rooted in the calendar.

"It always takes three to five years to establish events such as these, but

what was great this year was that we'd sold so many tickets in advance," said

Newmarket Open Day organizer Johnno Spence. "Lots of families came along and

there was a great atmosphere -- the important thing is that everyone has a good

time and I think we achieved that."

Tales of the Heath is a monthly TDN

installment by Newmarket-based writer Emma Berry. Berry lives in one of

Newmarket's oldest yards, Beverley House Stables, former home to the 1903 Triple

Crown winner Rock Sand and now to the small string of flat and jumps horses

trained by her husband, John. She accompanies the yard's first lot most mornings

on her 11-year-old retired racehorse, Pantomime Prince.

Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com