Renovation boost for royal favourite Newmarket racecourse

Bold - even controversial - work on the July Course has paid off, helping Newmarket tackle the unique demands of preparing turf for some of racing’s biggest meetings.

Estates Manager Alan Hatherley and Head of Racing Andrew Morris work closely together to manage the 27ha racing surface.

The town of Newmarket in Suffolk is not known as ‘HQ’ for nothing. Its popularity as a centre of racing stretch back to King Charles I who built a grandstand to watch the sport on Newmarket Heath.

In 1666 Charles II returned to the town to enjoy racing after the restoration of the throne and himself competed in a race in 1671. The 350th anniversary of the Newmarket Town Plate, the first organised race to be run to an official set of rules, was celebrated in 2016.

Now the town is home to 1100ha of training grounds operated by Jockey Club Estates, some 80 racehorse training establishments, Newmarket Racecourses, the National Stud, the British Racing School, two equine hospitals and the National Horseracing Museum.

Newmarket Racecourses actually comprises three tracks: the Rowley Mile, which hosts racing in April-May (including the Betfred 1000 and 2000 Guineas Classic races) and September-October (featuring the Dubai Future Champions meeting); the July Course used in June-August and the Beacon Course which links the two and provides the Start for longer distance races.

Before and after’ view of the intensive scarification treatment on the July Course that began in November 2024. 

Each has its own microclimate: you particularly notice the temperature dip and the wind get up as you leave the road and enter the Rowley Mile, a vast expanse of turf on the Heath which adjoins the gallops managed and maintained by Jockey Club Estates.

“Even on non-racing days, there are horses everywhere,” comments Newmarket Racecourses Estates Manager Alan Hatherley. “Horses need to cross the track to access the gallops from some of the racing yards. It’s actually very positive for the ground staff as it keeps them familiar with the ways of the horse, which you don’t always get at other tracks.”

The July Course is more sheltered and has a private, secluded feel as it is not used outside the racing season, while the Beacon Course runs between the two others onto a far, open horizon.

The eight-mile long Anglo Saxon Devil’s Dyke dissects the Heath, and it marks a change in the geology.

“On the July Course, the chalk is just 45cm below the topsoil, while on the Rowley Mile you can dig down to 1.2m without hitting chalk,” explains Alan.

Substantial amounts of thatch being offloaded from the Trilo. 

There are no artificial drains on the July Course, and he comments that after a heavy downpour that leaves water pooling in hoofprints on the turf, it simply drains away within minutes.

The downside to this – coupled with a succession of dry, cold springs - is the difficulty in getting and maintaining turf coverage.

Irrigation plays a key role, and the expanses of turf – the Rowley Mile is 56m wide in places - and the exposed situation mean that boom systems are the tool for the job, with one 30m, two 50m and a 60m boom deployed.

“In 2025, we trialled wireless soil monitors, installed 100mm below the surface which feed back moisture data via an app, and we have purchased the system for this year,” Alan explains. “Moisture levels can be as low as 9% and we aim for 30% on a raceday.”

Whereas the considerable task of applying water to the 27ha of racing surface was historically managed by a couple of ground staff, now the whole team is rota’d on, he adds.

“It’s a huge job and a long season. It also needs careful management and attention to the weather forecast – we need to avoid the going moving to ‘good’ if there is rain after irrigation for example. Or predicted rain can fail to arrive, in which case we need to switch staff to irrigation at the end of an already long day.”

Left: The daunting aftermath! Right: New growth coming through strongly after seeding with a Vredo disc seeder. 

The wide expanse of the track area is divided by a central rail, which is moved to present fresh ground and according to field size on both courses – the Cambridgeshire Handicap run on the Rowley Mile in September has a maximum field of 34 runners. The two sides can also be maintained to individual needs if required.

By the end of the 2024 season, Head of Racing Andrew Morris and Alan had decided that a major renovation was due for the July Course.

“In the 360 years that this course has been in use, no major works had taken place. Firm conditions were historically tackled by topdressing with peat and the level of organic matter was starting to affect water infiltration and thus the effectiveness of irrigation,” Alan explains.

“So, after the second last fixture, we mowed the right hand side of the track down to 5cm and scarified intensively, followed by the left hand side after the final meeting.”

A useful addition to the armoury, one of a pair of robot mowers that keep on top of growth on the formal lawns, before presentation is completed with cylinders. 

This was carried out with a Trilo scarifier collector, followed by overseeding with Barenbrug Multi Sport, using a Vredo disc seeder.

“We kept the sward at 6cm through the winter, before gradually taking it up to 9.5cm for racing. It’s an exacting process: we don’t want to take too much out, but the grass needs to stand up and not go down.” 

Andrew admits that the results looked ‘pretty drastic’ initially, and that a second overseed was needed.

“It took a long time to come back; in February 2025, it was bare!” he recalls.

Fortunately, the renovation was successful and achieved the strong vertical growth required in the predominantly ryegrass sward.

Feedback from trainers and jockeys – very much a part of modern racing - was highly positive.

Wireless soil monitors installed 100mm below the surface now deliver real-time moisture data via app, helping maintain levels from as low as 9% up to a target 30% on raceday. 

In autumn 2025, the process was repeated with the same aggressive scarification and Alan notes that the recovery was much quicker the second time.

“We will do it again this year, but it will be a shallower treatment,” he says. “We have the advantage of optimum renovation timings for the July Course, which unfortunately can’t be said for the Rowley Mile. On that side, we have to fit it in when we can.”

Mowing is another hugely time-consuming process on the super-sized track areas, so the original 5m Progressive roller mower has been joined by a 6m model.

“It takes nine hours to cut with the smaller mower and six with the 6m, and we rotate the path of the tractor to minimise wheelings,” Alan comments.

A handy addition to the mower fleet is a pair of Husqvarna robots, used for routine maintenance of lawned areas such as the parade ring and winners’ enclosure.

The July Course winners enclosure in full bloom. 

“We still use cylinder mowers for presentation, but the robots can cut 24 hours a day, and it avoids having to send a groundsman over with a mower to the July Course when we are still busy with the Rowley Mile. They do a surprisingly good job – I can’t wait till the technology’s there to do the same on the track!”

The process of awakening the July Course from its winter slumbers was in full swing when Pitchcare visited, with contract staff busy repairing and painting. Features such as the thatched saddling boxes and traditional grandstands, along with the multitude of trees and shrubs which give it a garden party feel make it a favourite with racegoers, but preparation for its season is quite a mission.

“All of the machinery is based at the Rowley Mile so we have to take what we need across and park it up when we switch between courses,” explains Alan. “We also move all of the raceday infrastructure, from parade ring grandstands to benches and even bins across.”

The team comprises eight full time groundstaff and three dedicated gardeners – a small workforce for up to 40 fixtures a year on 27ha of racecourse; infield areas are maintained by Jockey Club Estates, and agricultural contractors with high output equipment are engaged for large area spraying and fertiliser spreading.

Mowing on the Rowley Mile – home to the spring Guineas meetings and the autumn Championship contests -  with a Progressive 6m roller mower. 

Alan has been at Newmarket for 23 years and says he can’t imagine working anywhere else. “It’s a huge and unique job and I love it.”

Andrew succeeded Michael Prosser in 2023, after more than a decade at Chester Race Company, including secondments in Dubai. He is Head of Racing, with responsibilities spanning from race planning to managing the tracks and estates and is also Clerk of the Course at Huntingdon.

“Alan is very experienced, so my job is really to empower him and the team,” he says. “Recruitment and retention remains challenging, although many of our groundstaff have been with us for some time.”

Alan agrees: “I’m not sure that racing is always seen as sportsturf so it doesn’t have the job profile that other sports have; we also find that candidates are less willing to relocate which is often essential.”

However, a new hobby has enabled him to share the results of their hard work with the team: “I’d always been very sceptical about drone photography until I had a go. But drone shots of the course on July Cup Day revealed just what had been achieved in preparing the turf to the highest standard. In how many jobs can you look at the results and think ‘I did that’?”

Blooming lovely

Production of plants and flowers has been taken in-house following the appointment of Matthew Murawski who propagates, plans and prepares the floral decorations for Newmarket Racecourses.

He explains: “We start with 17,000 plugs and grow them on in a complex of glasshouses, polytunnels and hardening off beds at the heart of the Rowley Mile.

Planters and baskets are prepared for the first meeting in April with some of the hardier species, including the highly scented stocks, begonias and dahlias, and then we move onto pelargoniums, salvia, petunias and nemesia. Some of the colours are incredible and it’s wonderful to see them displayed around the racecourse.”

Left Matthew Murawski with just one of the stunning hanging baskets produced on site. Right Catherine Macmillan’s eye for detail is key to keeping the plants looking immaculate. 

“There are all the usual challenges, plus rabbits! We treat the young plants to make them less palatable. Attention to detail is essential so we select them carefully and Catherine Macmillan spends hours picking out any dead leaves or spent flowers to keep them looking immaculate.”

Propagation equipment is also part of the investment, which will allow more plants to be grown from cuttings and seeds in the future.