Newmarket in the morning is always an equine hive of activity, as over 2000 horses head to the gallops to train. It doesn’t matter what their ability, all use the same gallops, owned and maintained by Jockey Club Estates.

2018 proved to be a vintage year for Newmarket trainers, with their horses winning 1,850 races including a record breaking 37 Group 1 races. That is 9 more Group 1s than the previous highest total of 28, achieved in 2014.

All around the world

That success was global too, as Newmarket horses enhanced the town’s reputation with wins at the highest level across four continents; Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia.

The total number of 1,850 global wins - an increase of nearly 10% on 2017, and was achieved despite a small drop in the number of horses trained in Newmarket. (the monthly average of gallopers was down 0.9%).

The largest contributor to the record breaking haul of Group 1 wins? Champion trainer, John Gosden with 13. Leading the way was the striking three-year-old grey Roaring Lion with four Group 1 wins, followed by Cracksman (three), Enable (two), Stradivarius (two) and one each for Too Darn Hot and Without Parole.

Next best was Saeed Bin Suroor with nine Group 1 winners, followed by Sir Michael Stoute and William Haggas with four each. The town’s final Group 1 of the year was secured by Luca Cumani in Italy with God Given, a fitting farewell in his homeland before his retirement after 43 years of training in Newmarket.

The figures do not include the successful Godolphin yard of Charlie Appleby, as his horses do not use the public training grounds on a daily basis, although Derby winner Masar’s preparations for Epsom included a key piece of work on the Limekilns.

Nick Patton, Managing Director of Jockey Club Estates was thrilled with results this year.

"It (2018) was a fantastic year for Newmarket trained horses. The results reflect very well on trainers, their staff and our staff considering the challenging weather conditions, with the ‘Beast from the East’ and a very cold spring followed by an exceptionally dry summer. By the end of the year, there had only been 434mm of rainfall compared to 717mm in 2017 that is 11 inches less rain.

Nick is proud of the ongoing investment in Newmarket Training Grounds, £3.4million in improvements since 2010:

“The benefit of that on-going investment in the facilities is evident... As well as breaking the record for the number of Group 1 wins, several of the smaller yards enjoyed notably successful seasons too and the beauty of Newmarket is that the facilities are open to all trainers.

"More upgrades and investments are planned for 2019 and we also continue to work with Suffolk Highways on a joint project to upgrade the horse crossings, installing a bespoke surface to cross the roads and with better signals."

It all bodes well for another record breaking year!