The QIPCO Guineas Festival at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile, one of Britain’s premier Flat racing fixtures, is to be extended to three days from 2022.
In an exciting enhancement to the two-day weekend meeting, which stages the first two Classics of the season, racing will now also take place on the Friday and run from April 29th to May 1st in 2022.
The QIPCO 2000 and QIPCO 1000 Guineas will remain in their current positions, with further details about Friday 29th April including the race programme, what racegoers can expect off the track and ticket details announced in due course.
Sophie Able, Newmarket Racecourses’ General Manager, said: “We’re delighted to be enhancing one of British racing’s most prestigious Flat racing fixtures and a meeting which has shown sustained growth in the last decade.
“An additional day means more flexibility to optimise the meeting’s race programme both for participants and those who follow and bet on racing, as well as the chance to use the existing infrastructure to create another great day out for our customers.
“There are wider benefits too in terms of the shape of Newmarket’s early-season fixture list, more recovery time for the course itself and an easier operational switch onto the July Course.
“Most of all though, Newmarket at the beginning of May is a magical place to be, and this is another chance to see the home of horseracing at its very best.
“We’re excited about the opportunities for further growth this change will bring, and the benefits racing will see through subsequent reinvestment, and we hope everyone looks forward to a three-day QIPCO Guineas Festival next year as much as we will.”
Rod Street, Chief Executive of British Champions Series, said: “The QIPCO Guineas Festival is one of the highlights of the British sporting calendar and we welcome the fact that racegoers will be able to enjoy a third day of brilliant racing from the Rowley Mile.
“Whilst the circumstances in 2020 were very different, we have seen the interest that a three-day Festival is able to generate and very much view this as a chance to engage more people in one of racing’s most important events.”
