A first in Newmarket as watered gallop closes - due to lack of water

Newmarket's watered gallop has been shut because of a lack of available water in an unprecedented closure.

Drought-like conditions in much of eastern and southern England have forced Jockey Club Estates to close the gallop, prioritising water use for the town's two tracks, the July course and the Rowley Mile.

Last week the Met Office reported it had been the driest July in England for more than a century, while a hosepipe ban was being introduced in parts of the south (Hampshire and Isle of Wight) from Friday.

The Met Office said all months apart from February had been drier than average in the UK, as rainfall totals for the first six months of the year were about 25 per cent below England's long-term average.

Nick Patton, managing director of Jockey Club Estates, said: "There are important autumn programmes of racing on the July course and Rowley Mile coming up, so we have prioritised this over the watered gallop.

"We have never had to close the watered gallop before due to the lack of water in my time."

The JCE has applied for an emergency licence to continue to use the watered gallop, but hopes are not high it will be approved.

Chris Wall, chairman of the Newmarket heath committee, said: “The watered gallop was open up until Saturday but it’s closed from now on as the Jockey Club don’t have enough water to be able to carry on watering it.

"What water they have will be used on the racecourses, although they have applied for an emergency licence to take out some more water. Given the current climate, I wouldn’t be holding my breath.

“Everything’s in need of rain here at the moment. It looks a bit like the outback in Australia, but there’s nothing we can do.”

The Limekilns: the famous training ground was last used nearly two months ago

The gallop, the town's only watered turf facility, was first opened in the 1980s and has been in high demand because the regular grass gallops have been unusable for two months.

The treated facility has been used by all the greats over the years, including Frankel and this year’s Derby winner Desert Crown, who completed his Epsom prep on the pristine turf.

The special nine-furlong strip runs parallel to the Rowley Mile and is opened when the regular grass gallops become too firm to use, with the JCE treating the facility with water from its own reservoir.

However, that water is also used to treat the July course, which stages its next fixtures on Friday and Saturday, and the Rowley Mile.

Trainers who regularly use the watered gallop include Roger Varian, Simon and Ed Crisford, Ed Dunlop and Michael Bell.

Wall added: “Obviously, it will impact on some people who would prefer to prepare their horses for various races on turf, especially the two-year-olds.”

Although the recently relaid Al Bahathri Polytrack will ease some of the town's gallops void, there will be greater traffic on the all-weather facility opened in 1985.

Wall said: “It’s great we’ve got the Al Bahathri up and running now and bedded in, so we’re not short of a gallop.”

The JCE oversees 2,500 acres of training grounds at the headquarters of racing, which includes 50 miles of turf gallops and 14 miles of artificial track.

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