Gosdens' Group 1 stars to the fore as good weather attracts bumper turnout for Henry Cecil Open Weekend in Newmarket

Visitors came from across Britain for day two of the Henry Cecil Open Weekend in Newmarket on Sunday when 24 yards opened their doors.

The 11th year of the revived event kicked off with the Tattersalls-sponsored gallops on Warren Hill, which was headlined by Group 1 winning trio Mostahdaf, Nashwa and Inspiral.

Other strings to support the event were William Haggas, Sir Michael Stoute, Sir Mark Prescott, Harry Eustace, Kevin Philippart de Foy and Simon Pearce. The last three also doubled up by opening their yards from 9.30am, although many people were queueing well before then to get in particularly along the Bury Road.

Alan Fisher and his family got up at 4am to make the trip from Shrewsbury. He said: “We came last year and we got up early so we could see the Gosden horses and we plan to visit the Godolphin rehoming display, which we missed last year.”

Young fans at Simon and Ed Crisford's yard

Another visitor, Joel Clark, from south-west London, said: “We went to the Newmarket Equine Hospital yesterday which was fascinating and also the Jockey Club Rooms and the British Racing School."

Simon Gray, from West Yorkshire, said: We’ve made a weekend of it and looked at the Banksy exhibition at the National Horseracing Museum yesterday, which was great.”

The initial rush to the yards was along the Bury Road where Richard Spencer gave away "200 caps in under an hour” while the Godolphin Rehoming Display was popular, featuring a fantastic array of former equine greats including Melbourne Cup winner Cross Counter and top stayers Papineau and Colour Vision, plus a clutch of Group 1 trophies.

Godolphin rehoming proved a popular attraction at the Newmarket Open Day

Roger Varian was also busy but there was no sign of his big guns King Of Steel or Eldar Eldarov. Varian explained: “King Of Steel is a bit of a boy and would have kicked his door down if he’d seen all these people so we didn’t show him and the same applied to Eldar Eldarov."

Across town the Hamilton Road got busier as the morning went on and organisers had to lay on extra buses to bring people back. Not surprisingly, Newmarket’s leading two-year-old Vandeek was a big draw at the Simon and Ed Crisford yard.

Ed Crisford said: “We were very busy and easily had over 400 people in. Everyone who came through the gate asked where Vandeek was." 

The nearby yards of George Boughey and George Scott were also crowded, as was that of first-time opener James Owen.

Visitors at James Owen's yards at Newmarket Open Day

Along the Fordham Road, Dylan Cunha was selling cupcakes with different pictures of his horses on each one, while across the road, Ed Dunlop was busy and the appearance of his 2015 Gold Cup winner Trip To Paris, who had been shipped in from Leicestershire, went down well.

The event was this year staged to raise funds for Racing Welfare, Newmarket Open Door and British Racing School. The joint overall winners of the best yard competition were George Scott and Godolphin Rehoming.

The afternoon activities on the Severals proved equally popular and included the first running of the Dullingham Park Shetland Pony Grand National, which was won by Myla Coppins on Cranford Fantastic.

Team Callan won the Daylesford Organic Showjumping consisting of jockey Neil and his sons Jack, Henry and Ted. Neil Callan said: “We jumped clear which put us in a strong position.“ 

The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday. Not a Members' Club Ultimate subscriber? Click here to join today and also receive our Ultimate Daily emails plus our full range of fantastic website and newspaper content.