Rubber surface laid on Newmarket horse crossing as Jockey Club ramps up safety

A ground-breaking new surface is being laid at one of the busiest horse crossings in Newmarket this week which it is hoped will make for a safer environment for riders and traffic.

The crossing at the 'town' end of Bury Road sees thousands of horse movements a day as each horse crosses it twice on the way to and from the famous Warren Hill training grounds nearby.

After successfully trialling a rubberized surface on their own land, Jockey Club Estates is in the process of rolling it out across Newmarket in tandem with some significant traffic calming measures and improvements.

Some of Luca Cumani's team test out the new crossing

The installation on Bury Road is the first of two and will be followed by the equally busy Moulton Road, which lies adjacent to Warren Hill and Long Hill training grounds.

Nick Patton, managing director of Jockey Club Estates, said: "It's a new surface that has been devised by Stablesoft Europe and is a combination of rubber and asphalt.

"It needs to be kind for the horse but also be fit for use on highways. It took many months of development before we put one in to the entrance to the Rowley Mile last year. That has worked well, so in conjunction with Suffolk County Council and external consultancy we have now taken the decision to install it on the highway."

He added: "It seems to have the thumbs-up so far and we've put 'sharks teeth' road markings for the traffic to give the horses more space."

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