Newmarket's sport of kings

Newmarket has been the capital of British horseracing ever since James I moved his summer court here in 1605 and established the town as the home of the sporting Queen Boudicca used to race her chariots across Newmarket Heath, but it was the royal patronage of the Stuart kings which made Newmarket the place it is today.

This walk takes in many of the sights associated with horseracing including Palace House, where the tourist information centre is housed in a wing of Charles II’s who did more than anyone to put Newmarket on the map and his twice yearly visits established a pattern of spring and autumn race meetings which continues to this day. On Palace Street, the white house with shutters is Nell Gwynne’s House, where the King installed his favourite mistress.

The town is utterly devoted to – and some might say unhealthily obsessed with – horseracing and all its bookmakers can be found in the places where more conventional towns would have pound shops, payday loan shops and bookmakers.

There are more than 50 training stables here and not just one racetrack, as many suppose, but two – the July Course and the Rowley Mile, both situated on Newmarket Heath and separated by the Devil’s Dyke. The Rowley Mile has bagged both of Newmarket’s classic races: the 1,000 Guineas and the 2,000 Guineas, both of which take place on the first weekend of May. The 2,000 Guineas was created by the Jockey Club and first run in 1809. It is named after the prize money offered then (a guinea being 21 shillings – equivalent to £1.05). The 50% less prestigious 1,000 Guineas was established five years later. However, since 2001, the prize money for both races has been the same and is now in the region of £350,000. Furthermore, the owners of the winning horse can see its value rise by many millions of pounds. The July Course is where the somewhat less well known July Cup and Falmouth Stakes are held.

There is also a considerable amount of good Suffolk turf given over to gallops and training grounds for the town’s inevitably swish clubhouse here, in easy reach of the National Horseracing Museum and Tattersalls, the renowned racehorse auctioneers. Meanwhile, the countryside outside Newmarket has amassed more than sixty horse studs. With over 3,000 thoroughbred horses based here in training, no one could ever accuse Newmarket of being a one-horse town.

Walk left out of the car park along All Saints Road then turn right into Palace Street towards a white house with shutters. This is Nell Gwynne's House, where the King installed his favourite mistress. Turn right at the end then immediately right into Rous Road. Follow this as it bends left, then at the end turn right into Old Station Road and walk past the Rous Memorial Court, formerly almshouses for retired jockeys. Across the street you see Warren Hill and the famous 'gallops' where the horses train each morning. The training grounds are closed to pedestrians until 1pm each day but after this time you can follow the exercise track on the left to Moulton Road. Several of the top trainers have their stables on Moulton Road, including Henry Cecil at Warren Place and Sir Mark Prescott at Heath House. Before 1pm, you will have to return along Old Station Road and take the alley between Nos. 13 and 15, emerging on Moulton Road opposite the farriers Curtis and Sons. Turn left along Moulton Road to return to the clock tower. Cross the road and walk down the right-hand side of High Street.

After 200yds (183m), turn right along an alley into The Guineas shopping centre. On your left is the Bushel pub, where Charles II is thought to have attended cock fights. Bear left at the library and right across Market Place. Cross the road just beyond a relief sculpture of a horse, and bear right along The Watercourse on a horse way behind a large white house. Behind the high wall to your left are the Hastings Centre, an equine swimming pool and therapy clinic. Turn left when at a junction and climb to the top of the street. Turn left and walk downhill as far as the Methodist chapel.

Cross the road here and turn right on another horse way to St Mary's Church. Bear left through the churchyard and keep straight ahead on Fitzroy Street, passing the Memorial Gardens, Kings Theatre and a real tennis court. At the end of the street, turn left into Black Bear Lane past a large horse requisites shop opposite the entrance to Fitzroy Stables.

Turn right up High Street. When you reach the Cooper Memorial drinking fountain, fork right along Birdcage Walk to arrive at Newmarket Heath, with views of the Rowley Mile racecourse and Millennium Grandstand. Turn left at the end and left again for a few yards to cross the main road at an island and enter the cemetery and follow the path to the left, passing the chapel and leaving via the main gate. Cross Dullingham Road and walk down High Street to the next corner, where you will see Queensberry House, headquarters of the British Bloodstock Agency. Turn right and then left leading into a private road, passing Gibson Saddlers, suppliers of racing silks to the Queen.

At the foot of this road, a short detour right leads to Tattersalls, the leading equine auctioneers. Otherwise, turn left to High Street and turn right at the traffic-lights. After the post office, you come to the Jockey Club, where the rules of racing are administered, and the National Horseracing Museum. Just beyond the museum, turn right towards Moons toyshop and go left along a passage to the start.