Sky Bet Sunday Series Guide To The Tracks: Newmarket

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Location: Rowley Mile Racecourse, Cambridge Road, Newmarket, CB8 0TF

The Rowley Mile is a wide, galloping right-handed track, with the 2m2f Cesarewitch course turning into an undulating 1m2f straight. 

A key feature is the downhill run to ‘The Bushes’ adjacent to the two-furlong marker, with the runners then emerging from ‘The Dip’ for the uphill climb to the finish. In early May, Newmarket’s Rowley Mile is the scene of the first UK Classics of the year, the 1000 and 2000 Guineas. 

The Headquarters of British Flat Racing hosted the Sky Bet Sunday Series for the first time on Sunday 19th May. 

Charlie Appleby’s Ancient Truth justified favouritism in the opening novice contest before going onto enjoy Group 2 success in the Superlative Stakes later in the year.

Tom Ward’s Woodhay Wonder and Harry Charlton’s Completely Random fought out a thrilling finish to the feature 6f Handicap, the former prevailing by a neck. The improving Tamayuz filly finished fourth in the Palace of Holyrood House at Royal Ascot on her next appearance. 

The aptly named Hope You Can Run (Charlie Johnston) took the stayers’ contest, while Pepsi Cat (Steph Hollinshead) displayed speed in abundance in the 5f Class 3 Handicap. 

The other winners on the afternoon were Mythical Guest (George Margarson), Noodle Mission (Edward Smyth-Osborne), and the 66-1 shot Ziggy’s Phoenix (Richard Hannon), a saviour for the bookmakers in the finale. 

Notable Speech provided trainer Charlie Appleby (16-71; 23%; -£0.72) with the best possible start to the season when seeing off Rosallion and Haatem in the 2000 Guineas. The master of Moulton Paddocks also enjoying further Newmarket Group One glory with Shadow Of Light (Middle Park and Dewhurst) and Desert Flower (Fillies’ Mile). 

Ralph Beckett (8-39; 21%; +£7.13) saddled a similar percentage of Newmarket winners to Appleby, with I Am I Said, Bright Times Ahead, and Smoken (Montrose Fillies’ Stakes) all ones to keep a close eye on through the duration of 2025. 

Meanwhile, Hugo Palmer (6-20; 30%; +£54.00), Karl Burke (5-34; 15%; +£0.08), and William Haggas (5-38; 13%; +£6.50) were responsible for saddling a handful of winners each on the Rowley Mile in 2024. 

With Charlie Appleby so prolific at Newmarket in 2024, William Buick (15-80; 19%; -£13.59) emerged as leading rider. The two-time British Flat racing Champion Jockey a core part of the Godolphin operation since 2015. 

Coolmore’s Ryan Moore (8-51; 16%; -£21.12) fared next best. Lake Victoria (Cheveley Park), Bubbling (Rockfel), and Delacroix (Autumn Stakes), among his high-profile winners. 

Others to enjoy regular success were Tom Marquand (8-54; 15%; -£4.80), Harry Davies (6-25; 24%; +£17.00), and Sean Levey (6-28; 21%; +£88.75). Levey setting the ball rolling for the season on Haatem in the bet365 Craven Stakes. 

“I haven’t ridden at Newmarket too often, but I think you can win from the front, or the back. It’s a straight, open course, so you can come from anywhere. You do need a well-balanced horse though, hitting the dip before the rise to the finishing line. Some horses, particularly the younger, less experienced ones, can roll around in the dip. When you ride a horse on the gallops, you don’t always know how they will react on a track until you run them.” 

Five horses were unbeaten in two starts on the Rowley Mile in 2024; Mountain Breeze (Charlie Appleby), Shadow Of Light (Charlie Appleby), Brunel Nation (Richard Hughes), Woodhay Wonder (Tom Ward), and It’ Aint Two (Hugo Palmer). The Lope De Vega colt Shadow Of Light the most prestigious of that quintet, posting back-to-back Group 1 wins in the Juddmonte Middle Park and the Darley Dewhurst.