Newmarket clerk downplays field-size concerns after just seven runners entered for two Saturday maidens

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Newmarket clerk of the course Andrew Morris has defended the field sizes for both two-year-old maiden races on the Rowley Mile on Saturday which have yielded only four and three runners respectively.

Last year, the 7f maiden had five runners but this year hosts four, while the mile maiden had seven runners but a year on this is down to three.

Part of the explanation behind the small fields is that the Rowley Mile has seen little rain since racing resumed there on September 19. The ground was recorded as good to firm for the third and final day of the Cambridgeshire meeting last Saturday when the Going Stick reading was 7.8.

Good to firm ground is also present for Saturday's card with a stick reading of 7.3 after 3mm of irrigation was added on Thursday. Sun Chariot day was last staged on good to firm turf in 2023 when the mile maiden and 7f maiden had 11 and eight runners respectively. 

The Cambridgeshire was run on quick ground last monthCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Are there other reasons for the poor turnout?

Other reasons for the small turnouts could be that not many trainers want to risk a well-bred two-year-old on their debut on fast ground when there are alternatives on the all-weather, notably at Kempton where such a race was split on Wednesday.

But that does not necessarily explain a longer-term trend for Newmarket's two-year-old races. 

The average field size for Newmarket two-year-old races was 12 runners in 2010, and it remained above nine runners up to and including 2019. The figures include races held on the Rowley Mile and the July course.

However, this dipped to 8.6 during the Covid-impacted 2020. While there was a recovery of sorts in 2021 (9.6) and 2024 (9.5), the general trend has continued downwards. At the start of October, this year's average field for two-year-old races in Newmarket is 7.3.

The trend has occurred on both tracks – the average juvenile field size on the Rowley Mile has dropped from an average of 13.4 in 2010 to 8.4 this year, while the July course is down from 10.6 in 2010 to 6.7 this year (peak of 12.6 in 2011).

What does the clerk think?

Clerk of the course Andrew Morris, who was announced as the Jockey Club’s new racing and industry relations director last month, believes the quicker surface on offer at the Rowley Mile and the plethora of options open to trainers at present were mitigating factors.

Morris said: “It is what it is. Trainers have so many other options of where to run at the present time rather than running two-year-olds on good to firm ground at the moment such as Kempton, where they had so many entries they had to divide a race recently.

“We’ve watered this week as we’ve only had 0.6mm of rain and we’ve seen many forecasts this year that say something is coming next week only for it to disappear.”

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