17th September 2019 - Leading community figures gathered at Tattersalls’ Park Paddocks on Tuesday to launch The Newmarket Gold Season, which begins this weekend with the Henry Cecil Open Weekend and racing at the Rowley Mile.

Champion trainer John Gosden was joined by Amy Starkey, Regional Director of The Jockey Club’s East Region, Tattersalls Director Jimmy George and bet365 representative, Pat Cooney. Also in attendance were Newmarket Mayor Rachel Hood, Emily Davey, Marketing Manager at Palace House, and Noel Byrne, Chairman of Discover Newmarket and Chief Executive of The Bedford Lodge Hotel, to look ahead to four key weeks of racing, breeding and sales events at the Home of Horseracing.

During The Newmarket Gold Season, more than 50,000 racegoers will visit the Rowley Mile, while tens of thousands will head to Tattersalls for an October Yearling Sale that 12 months ago generated turnover of some £170 million.

Newmarket Racecourses launched The Newmarket Gold Season this year as a long-term project to increase the profile of the town during the key autumn period, drawing attention not only to the world-class racing taking place at the Rowley Mile, Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and the Henry Cecil Open Weekend, but Discover Newmarket’s outstanding selection of tours, the National Heritage Centre at Palace House and the restaurants and hotels in and around the town.

The estimated value to the local economy of The Newmarket Gold Season is more than £40 million.

To learn more about The Newmarket Gold Season click on this link: https://vimeo.com/360286297/4bc5f85aa4
 

Amy Starkey, Regional Director of The Jockey Club’s East Region, said:

“Newmarket is known worldwide for its racing heritage and it is therefore only right that we should partner up with key organisations in the town in this way to encourage more visitors to discover all of the wonderful events and destinations we have to offer.

“It has been a pleasure to work with our partners on this project so far and it is my sincere hope that the community will see the benefits of The Newmarket Gold Season in the years to come.”
 

Rachel Hood, Mayor of Newmarket, said:

“The quality of the racing and the sales during The Newmarket Gold Season already acts as a magnet, attracting visitors from all over Europe and beyond.

“Promoting these events in this way creates a fantastic opportunity for further growth, while also boosting the local economy and celebrating local produce and suppliers.”
 

John Gosden, reigning British Champion Racehorse Trainer, said:

“I think that this concept of The Newmarket Gold Season is a very healthy development and a great initiative. It opens up the minds of people, who might have been rather parochial in the past, to the sheer gravitas that the whole of Newmarket can have, particularly at this time of year. It’s like a massive magnet, worldwide.

“When you talk about the business cluster of Newmarket – everything from racing, the sales, the breeding, the studs and the people who come and visit - there’s an awful lot of energy and power we can lock on to here and I think it’s very good, this concept of bringing it all together.”
 

Noel Byrne, Chairman of Discover Newmarket and Chief Executive of The Bedford Lodge Hotel, said:

“At The Bedford Lodge Hotel, we already know that this is a key time of year and so we are delighted to see the town’s most important organisations come together in this way to promote it to an even wider audience.

“The period not only demonstrates our town’s inextricable link to the sport’s history but the key role it has to play in our future economic health and prosperity. Our objective is to make the town a destination by highlighting the array of activities available for new and existing followers of horseracing to enjoy.”
 

The Newmarket Gold Season
The Newmarket Gold Season is a four-week period stretching across September and October encompassing the autumn highlights for town’s racing and breeding industry. 
 
As well as featuring four consecutive weekends of high-class racing, including the Cambridgeshire Meeting and Dubai Future Champions Festival, The Newmarket Gold Season starts with the Henry Cecil Open Weekend and concludes with the end of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Europe’s premier yearling sale. 
 
The Newmarket Gold Season showcases some of the world's best and most valuable thoroughbreds in the sales ring, on the racecourse and at stud and promotes the town of Newmarket as a destination point throughout this four week period. 

The Newmarket Gold Season – Key Dates
Henry Cecil Open Weekend – 21-22 Sept
Cesarewitch Trial Day – 21 Sept
Cambridgeshire Meeting – 26, 27, 28 Sept
Sun Chariot Day – 5 Oct
Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Book One – 8-10 Oct
Dubai Future Champions Festival – 11-12 Oct