Newmarket has around 35 racedays throughout the flat season, beginning with the Craven Meeting in April continuing through to their Final Meeting at the end of October. The summer highlight at HQ is their three-day July Festival which runs from the Thursday to Saturday in the second week of the month.
Unlike the Guineas and later races such as the Cambridgeshire and the Dewhurst which take place on the Rowley Mile course, the July Festival takes place on the July Course along with the other Newmarket fixtures throughout June, July and August. This means runners will be fishing in front of the lawned July Grandstands rather than Rowley Mile’s Millennium Stand.
There are seven races each day with a total of 21 races across the July Festival. There are seven Group races including two Group 1’s in the Falmouth Stakes and the meeting’s most prestigious race, the July Cup.
Thursday 10th July 2025, Ladies Day
The meeting opens with the Group 3 Bahrain Trophy, a 1m 5f race for three-year-old horses looking to compete in the St Leger later in the season. The last horse to complete that double was John Gosden’s Masked Marvel in 2011.
More group action follows with the July Stakes over the same 6f as the July Cup, and the Princess Of Wales’s Stakes over 1m 4f. The Listed Sir Henry Cecil Stakes was introduced in 2007 and renamed after the late trainer of Frankel in 2014.
- 1:50pm: Bahrain Trophy Stakes
Group 3, 1m5f, 3yo, £200,000 - 2:25pm: Kingdom Of Bahrain July Stakes
Group 2, 6f, 2yo, £100,000 - 3:00pm: Bet Boost At bet365 Handicap
Class 2, 6f, 3yo, £100,000 - 3:35pm: Princess Of Wales’s Stakes
Group 2, 1m4f, 3yo+, £125,000 - 4:10pm: British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes
Class 2, 6f, 2yo, £40,000 - 4:45pm: Edmondson Hall Solicitors Sir Henry Cecil Stakes
Listed Race, 1m, 3yo, £55,000 - 5:20: Newmarket Handicap
Class 3, 1m, 3yo+, £30,000
Friday 11th July, Festival Friday
The standout race on day two is the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes. This race for fillies’ and mares’ is run over 1m and gives the Classic generation of three-year-olds the chance to race older runners.
Also on Friday is the Group 2 Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes over 6f for juveniles and two valuable handicaps in the bet365 Handicap and the bet365 Trophy.
- 1:50pm: bet365 Handicap
Class 2, 1m2f, 3yo, £100,000 - 2:25pm: Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes
Group 2, 6f, 2yo, £100,000 - 3:00pm: bet365 Trophy
Class 2, 1m6f, 4yo+, £100,000 - 3:35pm: Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes
Group 1, 1m, 3yo+, £275,000 - 4:10pm: Weatherbys British EBF Maiden Stakes
Class 3, 7f, 2yo, £25,000 - 4:45pm: Dubai Racing Club Handicap
Class 3, 7f, 3yo+, £30,000 - 5:20pm: debenhams.com Handicap
Class 3, 5f, 3yo+, £30,000
Saturday 12th July, July Cup Day
The meeting’s biggest race takes place on Saturday, the Group 1 July Cup. This is one of the world’s most prestigious turf sprint races with a prize fund to match. Inaugurated in 1876, this has been won in the past by greats such as Ormonde, Diadem and Abernant.
Supporting races on the final day include the Group 2 Superlative Stakes and one of the big betting heats of the week, the Bunbury Cup handicap.
- 1:40pm: Rossdales British EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes
Class 3, 7f, 2yo, £25,000 - 2:12pm: Newmarket Fillies’ Handicap
Class 2, 7f, 3yo+, £50,000 - 2:50pm: bet365 Bunbury Cup
Class 2, 7f, 3yo+, £100,000 - 3:25pm: bet365 Mile Handicap
Class 2, 1m, 3yo, £50,000 - 4:00pm: bet365 Superlative Stakes
Group 2, 7f, 2yo, £100,000 - 4:35pm: Al Basti July Cup Stakes
Group 1, 6f, 3yo+, £600,000 - 5:10pm: Trust A Trader Handicap
Class 3, 1m4f, 3yo+, £30,000
