King Charles II statue unveiled on the Rowley Mile

Visitors to Newmarket's Craven meeting next month will have a new feature to behold after the Duchess Of Cornwall yesterday braved the elements to unveil a statue of King Charles II at the Rowley Mile.

The siting of the sculpture of the 'Merry Monarch' is very fitting as Charles II was pivotal to the evolution of Newmarket as the home of Horseracing and the Rowley Mile is even named after his one-time hack Old Rowley.

The commissioning of the statue was the idea of Justin Wadham, husband of trainer Lucy, who was present at the unveiling together with Sheikh Fahad Al Thani, who rode the winner of the landmark 350th running of Newmarket Town Plate last year.

Wadham said: "It's a great feature and I think it's rather fun that it is located in the members' courtyard close to a number of bars."

There were certainly no scantily clad women, or men, for that matter at the rainswept unveiling when a crowd of over 300 included trainers Sir Michael Stoute, James Fanshawe, Luca Cumani, Martyn Meade and Paul d'Arcy.

Two horses from the Household Cavalry flanked the statue during the ceremony, at which course chairman Julian Richmond-Watson said: "The statue celebrates 350 years of racing here at Newmarket and the vital role that Charles II played in its history. I'd like to thank Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, who made a very generous donation towards the production of the statue as well as Frances Stanley."