There\u2019s certainly no shortage of high class two year old action at this meeting, with this Group 2 6f event held on the opening day representing another chance for the youngsters to showcase their talents. Having first been run in 1786, this is actually the oldest two year old contest run anywhere in the world. The speedy 1985 winner Green Desert is the standout amongst the list of previous winners, both for his exploits at the track and subsequently as a stallion, with many of his progeny, including Cape Cross and Desert Prince going on to great things.<\/p>\n
There are few \u2013 if any \u2013 racing venues that are quite so steeped in history as Newmarket. Harking all the way back to 1667, when the track acted as the venue for match races between the nobles, it wasn\u2019t long before the Suffolk course soon became the epicentre of the flat racing world.<\/p>\n
It was close to a hundred years after those first knockings of racing at the track that this meeting came into being in 1765. Initially a two day affair, the popularity and quality of the festival continued to grow in subsequent years, which saw a number of the contests we know and love to this day join the party. Firstly we saw the July Stakes added in 1786, with the July Cup itself following in 1876.<\/p>\n
The names of the other races here are littered with significant figures from racing\u2019s gilded past, none more so than that of Sir Charles Bunbury. Bunbury was the man behind both the 1000 and 2000 Guineas held at this track, and also played a significant role in the introduction of the Derby itself. Indeed \u2013 but for a lost coin toss \u2013 the Derby \u2013 and all other Derby\u2019s held around the world \u2013 would likely have been known as the Bunbury. The Kentucky Bunbury anyone?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s safe to say things have come a long way from those initial \u00a3100 match races held at the course, with the event now encompassing three days, and offering in excess of \u00a31.2million in total prize money. Now well into its fourth century \u2013 how many sporting events can say that? \u2013 this excellent meeting is showing no signs of slowing down just yet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
A Complete History of the July Festival<\/h2>\n
Newmarket\u2019s July Festival combines music, fashion and top-class horse racing to create a truly wonderful three-day summer spectacle. Its history goes back more than 250 years and below is a timeline of the key events that have shaped this brilliant meeting.<\/p>\n
1765 \u2013 July Fixture Created<\/h3>\n
Newmarket introduced a fourth date to its racing calendar in July. Sometimes only featuring a small handful of races in its early years, by the following century the meeting spanned the course of a few days. The July Festival was born!<\/p>\n
1786 \u2013 First Running of the July Stakes<\/h3>\n
The July Stakes is run for the first time. Now the longest running race specifically for two year olds in British flat racing, this is a six furlong sprint and, as of 2003, a Group 2 race. Bullfinch was the first winner of this one and whilst there can be no repeat victors from an equine perspective, George Fordham and Sir Gordon Richards have both ridden a record six winners in this historic contest.<\/p>\n
1876 \u2013 Inaugural July Cup<\/h3>\n
The July Cup, now the centrepiece of the entire July Festival, was founded. The globally recognised six furlong dash crowns the champion European sprinter in the eyes of many and is a real highlight of the July Festival. Now a Group 1 contest, Springfield won the first two renewals and Sundridge is the only horse to land three July Cups, winning consecutively from 1902.<\/p>\n
1894 \u2013 Creation of the Princess Of Wales\u2019s Stakes<\/h3>\n
The Princess of Wales\u2019s Stakes is run for the first time, the \u00a310,000 contest being won by Isinglass, who had won the 2000 Guineas the previous year. Now a Group 2, this is run over 1m4f, having been extended from one mile in 1902. In recent times Big Orange (2015 and 2016) and Millenary (2002 and 2003), have joined the short list of multiple winners of the race.<\/p>\n
1894 \u2013 Bunbury Cup Added<\/h3>\n
The Bunbury Cup is also added to the Newmarket card and honours British politician Sir Charles Bunbury, who is credited with introducing the 1000 and 2000 Guineas to Newmarket. The seven furlong handicap is open to all horses three and up and has been won three times by Mine (2002, 2005 and 2006).<\/p>\n
1900 \u2013 Doricles shares the spotlight<\/h3>\n
Future St Leger champion Doricles secured the first win of his career in the July Stakes but it was a win shared with Veles following a dead heat. In the same race, Handicapper, who a year later beat Doricles to 2000 Guineas glory, finished among the unplaced finishers.<\/p>\n
1911 \u2013 The First Falmouth Stakes<\/h3>\n
The (now) Group 1 Falmouth Stakes was established, a race contested over one mile, originally restricted to fillies aged three-years-old but now open to fillies and mares of that age and above. The name honours Evelyn Boscawen, a leading racehorse owner and the 6th Viscount Falmouth. The simply named Alice won the inaugural contest and since then Lester Piggott has ridden a record seven winners in this historic contest.<\/p>\n
1929 \u2013 Tote Introduced On Course<\/h3>\n
Spectators of the July Festival now enjoyed the Tote by the course. It was the first major meeting in which the Government-owned corporation ever appeared.<\/p>\n
1931 \u2013 Dead Heat<\/h3>\n
The Princess of Wales\u2019s Stakes witnessed its first and only dead heat before the advent of the photo finish. Judges, unable to determine who crossed the line first, had no choice but to award the race to both Shell Transport and The Recorder.<\/p>\n
1940 \u2013 Rowley Mile Used as WWII Airbase<\/h3>\n
The RAF commandeers the use of the Rowley Mile at Newmarket, turning it into an official Bomber Command Airbase. The July Course is then used all-year round for racing, making Newmarket the only course that remained operational during then entire course of the conflict.<\/p>\n
1947 \u2013 Cherry Hinton Stakes Introduced<\/h3>\n
The Cherry Hinton Stakes is first run, with Great Fun taking the honours. Now called the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes, this six furlong contest for the fillies is one to watch as a guide to who might deliver the goods in the following year\u2019s 1000 Guineaas.<\/p>\n
1965 \u2013 Starting Stalls Used for the First Time<\/h3>\n
The July Festival sees the use of starting stalls, yet to be introduced at any other racecourse in the country.<\/p>\n
1977 \u2013 Gentilhombre Awarded Controversial July Cup<\/h3>\n
Marinsky finishes first in the July Cup but shortly after the race is demoted to second following a stewards\u2019 inquiry. Gentilhombre is instead crowned champion, with the win later seeing him named the best sprinter in Europe.<\/p>\n
1977 \u2013 Girls excluded from July Stakes<\/h3>\n
For nearly two centuries the July Stakes had been open to horses of both genders but this changed in 1977. Fillies could no longer take part with only colts and geldings now available for the six furlong sprint.<\/p>\n
1991 \u2013 Bahrain Trophy moves<\/h3>\n
In previous July Festivals, the Bahrain Trophy had been the name of a seven furlong handicap restricted to three-year-olds. In 1991 however the name transferred to another event, replacing the H & K Commissions Stakes which in previous years had been run as a handicap. The new Bahrain Trophy took place over a distance of one mile and seven furlongs and carried Listed status.<\/p>\n
1992 \u2013 Piggott Takes July Cup Total to Ten<\/h3>\n
Lester Piggott makes it win number 10 in the July Cup as he rides Mr Brooks to glory at Newmarket. Only in one other Group 1 race (the Ascot Gold Cup) did the legendary jockey enjoy more victories.<\/p>\n
1999 \u2013 Royal Line disqualified<\/h3>\n
For the first time in Godolphin\u2019s history, one of their horses failed a post-race test. The culprit was the Saeed Bin Suroor-trained Royal Line who finished first in the Bahrain Trophy. The victory was scrapped from the record books however when tests revealed pentoxifylline in Royal Line\u2019s system and instead Aidan O\u2019Brien\u2019s Moon Dragon claimed the win.<\/p>\n
2002 \u2013 Clerk of the Scales Expels Capricho<\/h3>\n
Capricho crosses the finishing post neck and neck with the James Bethell-trained Mine for a rare dead heat in the Bunbury Cup. During the weigh-in though it was discovered Capricho ran 9lbs under his correct weight as trainer John Akehurst, who was fined \u00a31,500 for the incident, forgot to add the weight cloth. Or should that be \u201cforgot\u201d?!<\/p>\n
2004 \u2013 Falmouth Promoted to Group 1 Status<\/h3>\n
The Falmouth Stakes is handed Group 1 status, joining the July Cup as the festival\u2019s two elite level races.<\/p>\n
2004 \u2013 Dubawis First Group Win<\/h3>\n
Legendary stud Dubawi lands the Group 2 (then Group 3) Superlative Stakes with Frankie Dettori in the saddle. The Superlative Stakes was renamed thus in 1991 having originally been named in honour of the trainer Bernard van Cutsem Stakes, who died in 1975.<\/p>\n
2007 \u2013 Creation of the Henry Cecil Stakes<\/h3>\n
The Xplor Conditions Stakes is added to the card and is won by Traffic Guard. Now called the Sir Henry Cecil Stakes, this one mile listed contest honours the legendary 10-time Champion Trainer.<\/p>\n
2007 \u2013 July Course Redevelopment<\/h3>\n
Redevelopment work on the July Course is complete. The \u00a310m project saw the removal of redundant buildings behind the Grandstands, which made way for new bars, catering outlets and toilets. Another new addition was that of the twin pavilion buildings, connected by an aerial walkway which has proved a hit among July Festival attendees.<\/p>\n
2009 \u2013 Bahrain Trophy Given Group 3 Status<\/h3>\n
The Bahrain Trophy becomes a Group 3 contest and is a key race on the July Meeting\u2019s card. Normally featuring on the opening day of the festival, this 1m5f contest offered almost \u00a3100,000 to the winner in 2019.<\/p>\n
2014 \u2013 Cavalryman finally fires<\/h3>\n
With Newmarket form reading 223 you might have thought Cavalryman had missed out on his chance to win at the course. At the ripe age of eight-year-old however the Godolphin runner claimed a neck\u2019s length win after setting an especially slow pace in the Princess of Wales\u2019s Stakes. By doing so he became the only horse older than six to win this race in decades.<\/p>\n
2016 \u2013 350th Anniversary<\/h3>\n
The historic Newmarket Town Plate, inaugurated in 1665 by the order of King Charles, marks the beginning of the July Festival. Typically the three mile six furlong contest runs later in the summer but organisers brought it forward as a way of celebrating Newmarket\u2019s 350th anniversary.<\/p>\n
2019 \u2013 Silver Bunbury Cup dropped<\/h3>\n
Having only managed to attract seven declared runners in 2018, Michael Prosser, clerk of the course at Newmarket, announced that the Silver Bunbury Cup would be under review. After some careful deliberation, Prosser and his colleagues opted to axe the Cup from the following July Festival schedule, replacing it with the brand new bet365 Trophy. The decision proved a popular one as 69 horses found themselves entered for the new \u00a3120,000 contest, targeted for older stayers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Newmarket is a real hub of horse racing and the sport\u2019s spiritual home. The Suffolk town is used as the base of many racing trainers so a large number of people in the town are involved in the industry. It\u2019s also home to the world class Newmarket Racecourse which is ready to host its signature […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":3988,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2024-05-05 07:03:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horseracingbettingsites.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4508"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horseracingbettingsites.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horseracingbettingsites.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horseracingbettingsites.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horseracingbettingsites.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4508"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.horseracingbettingsites.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4514,"href":"https:\/\/www.horseracingbettingsites.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4508\/revisions\/4514"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horseracingbettingsites.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horseracingbettingsites.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Horse](\"https:\/\/www.horseracingbettingsites.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Horse-Race-400-300x200.jpg\")
Newmarket is a real hub of horse racing and the sport\u2019s spiritual home. The Suffolk town is used as the base of many racing trainers so a large number of people in the town are involved in the industry. It\u2019s also home to the world class Newmarket Racecourse which is ready to host its signature summer meeting, the July Festival.<\/p>\n![\"Newmarket](\"https:\/\/www.horseracingbettingsites.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Newmarket-July-Course-from-Devils-Dyke-by-Stephen-McKay-Geograph-700px.jpg\")
<\/p>\n