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From 2026, every raceday at the Rowley Mile - except for the iconic Betfred Guineas Festival - will take place in one unified enclosure.
This change is all about enhancing your day with us:
Better value, more accessibilitySimpler, more competitive pricing means your day at the Rowley Mile is more welcoming, more straightforward, and more affordable than ever.
Unmissable access to the actionEnjoy front-row views of the winning line and get closer than ever to the parade ring, where the anticipation builds as horses and jockeys prepare to compete.
Freedom to exploreYou’ll have access to every public bar, restaurant, and viewing area, making your day more flexible and enjoyable.
A smoother, more memorable experienceFrom simplified digital ticketing to easier movement around the course, it’s never been easier to soak up the atmosphere that makes the Rowley Mile so special.
Our goal is simple: to make every raceday unforgettable - bringing you closer to the horses, closer to the action, and closer to the heart of racing.
This change is all about enhancing your day with us:
Better value, more accessibilitySimpler, more competitive pricing means your day at the Rowley Mile is more welcoming, more straightforward, and more affordable than ever.
Unmissable access to the actionEnjoy front-row views of the winning line and get closer than ever to the parade ring, where the anticipation builds as horses and jockeys prepare to compete.
Freedom to exploreYou’ll have access to every public bar, restaurant, and viewing area, making your day more flexible and enjoyable.
A smoother, more memorable experienceFrom simplified digital ticketing to easier movement around the course, it’s never been easier to soak up the atmosphere that makes the Rowley Mile so special.
Our goal is simple: to make every raceday unforgettable - bringing you closer to the horses, closer to the action, and closer to the heart of racing.
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It’s been happening for quite a few years at haydock many like myself didn’t renew membership.
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yes, on the face of it seems to devalue Annual membership
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I was a millennium club member back at the turn of the century it was a great membership to have Newmarket really did spoil you ,unusual I know but I’m not a fan of the July course so having tried to sort something out where my membership was rowley only failed I gave up membership around 2006 ,I presume the members bar will still be for members only and the seats outside reserved also the Hong Kong room will still be members only.
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The sockless invasion…..
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I wonder how they are going to get closer than ever to the parade ring.
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I have been arguing with Newmarket about this since the autumn when they trialed it.
The issue is not with the annual members who will still be able to use their own annual members lounge AND, more importantly, have access to the 2nd floor viewing balcony - the only really good view on the Rowley Mile. The issue is actually with those of us who are not annual members but who either go there under our ROA membership, or simply pay for Premier Enclosure access because of that 2nd floor viewing balcony advantage. I used to be an annual member at Newmarket in the 1980's but it is too far to go from Yorkshire nowadays and so I only go there around 8 times a year now, 6 on the Rowley Mile and the other 2 on the July Course. Now, when they trialed this across their last 2 meetings I pointed out that true racegoers who cherish the view were disadvantaged now, despite being willing to pay more. The reaction of the management there was both pitiful and laughable. Clearly, they had forgotten about that 2nd floor balcony. As a result of this daft change, all the meetings on the Rowley Mile - except the Guineas - will now see a small handful of racegoers (annual member and Owners / Trainers, out on the balcony when there is plenty enough room for all. A total waste of resource and they are still refusing to consider my idea of charging an extra £10 or so for access to that viewing balcony only. No wonder racing is in a state, the tracks are run by people who do not understand either horses or their own core audience! |
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'The reaction of the management was both pitiful and laughable'
Thats just him. Ignore the bugger |
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I am an Annual Member and you are correct The Knight. We have good facilities on the 2nd floor and they have increased the size of the lounge there this year (and in future I believe) which incorporates the seats outside. I though there were still seats to the right of the AM lounge that you had access to? Orr is your point that that will be over-crowded due to to this change? I agree that it is often sparsely attended on that floor.
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Donegal,
No, it is my understanding that, as per the last three days of the season there, only annual members and O/T's will be allowed onto that balcony. At the 2yo meeting at the end of October, when you reached the doors on the second floor at the top of the escalator, you were prevented from going to the right because that was where the new members lounge was, and also to the left because that was for annual members only. Thus, no way out on the balcony in question for anyone else. They actually had the expense of two track officials to stop people on a day when the crowd was tiny which was plain stupid. Then, on the final Saturday they had wised up a bit and had employed just one guard at the bottom of the escalators - thus only allowing O/T's and annual members up them. I could understand that balcony being reserved for Owners and Trainers and Annual Members at the rare very busy meetings but not for the majority when, as you will well know, the whole gaff is pretty deserted - and that great balcony even more so! From what I observed, and then from my subsequent conversations with them, it was clear that when coming up with this wheeze they had forgotten about that viewing balcony. Now, if things have changed since that last Saturday and I will be able to get to at least some of at balcony - to stand only - I will be very pleased, but I doubt things will be any different. My very strong impression was that the management hated being shown they had made an error and then allowed the age-old racing snobbery to creep in - you know what I mean ' we work in racing so we must be experts and you are but the plebby public who, despite being on track 200 times a year know nothing'! I still see the latter attitude at a lot of the tracks I go to. Quite amazing given how few people now go racing compared to the past. |
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well that is plain daft TN. Even on the really big days there is plenty of room for others as the viewing area for AM's is "restricted" (in effect) to those who can fit in the lounge. Now and again I go up there to watch a big race then return to the lawn but mostly that space is occupied by those who have seats in the lounge area. You are correct. Nobody in racing will ever, ever admit to an error. Like the Pope, they are infallible.
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The Knight, when a race goer of your experience makes a claim like that last sentence in your 17.53 post and the whole of your 00.40 it really is time for us all to question the future of Racing.
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Loyal..
Yes, we should question racing 's future. I am starting to despair of a sport I have loved for all of my 65 years... Tracks are now often run by those who do not understand the sport, betting, their core audience, or even horses. I could spend a considerable amount of time detailing the examples I see every week. But just one excellent example is the tracks' obsession with getting races off on time. They often fail anyway but they persist in frequently having the horses down at the start five minutes or more before the race time. On cold days the horses (and jocks) mill then have to mill around at the stalls - which is no way for any athlete, human or equine, to warm up for a race. YET, in the parade ring the runners are allowed to shed their winter rugs only as they go onto the track. For those of us who want to see a horse without it's rug, this is infuriating. I have questioned this on a number of occasions, saying it would not harm to have the horses do at least one lap of the paddock without a rug. 'Oh no, the horses must be kept warm at all times. If you knew horses, you would know that', is the standard answer. BUT, the same horses are then forced to walk around for five minutes more at the stalls - without their rugs!!! Another example is how, at one track earlier this year, I went to the reception desk after the second race to see if they could turn up the race commentary outside, as it was muffled. The young girl on the desk was baffled and kept asking me what TV I meant. After a short while, it dawned on me that she did not know the track, as all do, provide a live race commentary. I asked her and she said 'nobody had ever told me that'!! Theses are but two small examples and there are plenty more - and when you add up a lot of small examples you soon start to have big issues!!! Horse racing will go the same way as greyhound racing unless the racing authorities wake up and start showing some proper foresight. |
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Another small example the knight security asking what are you doing with a pair of binoculars
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Spot on, jimnast.
And, here is yet another. Not that long ago, a Northern track I very often attend had, for a winter's midweek jump meeting, merged the Premier and Grandstand Enclosures into one. Nothing wrong with that, the crowd was tiny. But I still saw a couple of racegoers that day go up and pay the £9 'transfer fee' to take them into the Premier from the Grandstand! The small desk where the transactions took place, it turned out, had not bee told it was all one enclosure that day!!! I bet they did not track down the poor sops who paid the £9, though. Honestly, people think I am making this up but I am not. (I need to go and take some blood pressure tablets to calm down!!) |
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Do you ever notice if the sockless buy the racing post ?
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jimnast 11 Dec 25 11:42
Another small example the knight security asking what are you doing with a pair of binoculars  |
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Form
I know 3 people it’s happened two n the last 2 years That example knights is disgraceful possibly even unlawful |
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My reply would probably be “ I’m watching Francesca “
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She’s not often seen at catterick bridge
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That’s a fact….
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..and the latter couple of posts actually make an important point without knowing so!
Yes, we see all the gravy train TV brigade at the big meetings, especially in summer, but how many of them have I seen at Catterick, or Rasen, or Leicester, or others, on a cold winter's day? Outside of the Racing UK presenters and pundits, zero! Hence, no publicity about just how poorly run a lot of race meetings actually are finds the light of day. A good journalist when I was young (and I started my working life at 16 as a trainee reporter) would be rubbing their hands at the stuff that they could cover today - but it is all about not upsetting the gravy train nowadays!! Right, another blood pressure pill required... |
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I recommend Losartan
What is the reason for checking binoculars? Surely not to intercept illicit alcohol? |
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Searching for non trier….
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Thebishop
The only reason I can think of is the security employed would probably not have been told some people take binoculars racing I suppose if your not told you might think it unusual,or perhaps they think putin has sent you . |
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Often get my binocular case checked at Huntingdon.
Security say there checking for people smuggling in sandwiches. |
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“What an insult. Clothed in the top of the range Barbour, Holland’s and House of Bruar affluence uniform and some minimum wage chav thinks we’re smuggling in sandwiches. My goodness, say something Gerald!”
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Most tracks check bags in such a cursory way that any half decent drug smuggler would sail past the guards anyway - dog handlers excepted.
However, a very good contact of mine at York told me three years ago that sometimes at the very busy summer meetings, plain clothes police are milling around having been deployed to watch the queues. Apparently they have had specialist training to spot if someone starts to act nervously when they see a bag check is taking place. And should someone leave the queue and walk off before the bag check, chances are they will soon feel a hand on their collar! So, in other, words some of this checking is for the benefit of the boys in blue. Sorry to say, i this is true, then UK is edging towards becoming a police state.... |
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My first impression was that this is good security. A pity security at the theatre in Manchester didn’t apply the same practice.
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Yes, no issue with security in as much if you are doing nothing wrong then nothing to worry about. I suspect, though, at York it is drug dealing that concerns the undercover police...
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I was scanned today entering Cheltenham races .Ronnie
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