Loose Horse Gallops In To Newmarket Hotel...

Staff at a Newmarket hotel were forced to deal with an unexpected guest this week when a loose horse entered reception during the breakfast service.

Nick Timothy MP, whose West Suffolk constituency includes Newmarket, posted on X a CCTV image taken on Thursday showing a horse still wearing its tack being corralled by the reception desk of the Heath Court Hotel.

Timothy wrote: “Most hotels don’t have guests like this just turn up in reception. But most hotels aren’t in Newmarket – like the fantastic Heath Court Hotel.”


The horse, who appears to be unharmed in the image taken at 8.30am on Thursday, is wearing an exercise rug indicating it is in training with William Haggas. The horse does not have a bridle on and is being held by an individual while a woman blocks the automatic doors back out to the car park.

The Heath Court Hotel, a three-star property, is owned by Saeed Suhail, owner of Derby winners Kris Kin and Desert Crown. It sits between Albert House Stables, the base of James Keane, and Sir Mark Prescott’s Heath House Stables on Moulton Road and is close to the Warren Hill gallops, Newmarket’s major training grounds.

This horse is not the first to enter an unlikely venue. In 2018, a runaway racehorse caused havoc when entering a bar in Chantilly, while in 2024 a loose horse got on to the platform at Warwick Farm station near training grounds in Sydney.

It is also not the first time a horse has been inside the Heath Court Hotel, as trainer John Ryan related following the death of his Classic-winning father, Mick, in 2022.

He said: "Some boys from Ireland owned a horse in the yard called Fort Fox. He was a 17.2 hands strapping chaser.

"The group came over one weekend but didn't come into the yard on the Saturday as they got there late and just stayed at the bar in the Heath Court.

"Dad and the group were still going strong on Sunday morning evidently when they were supposed to come around the yard so I ended up taking the horse to the hotel.

"I actually walked the horse into the bar! Someone has a photo of the horse standing at the bar being given carrots on a silver platter."

Horse replies 'yes, my wife just died.'

Must be a stayer.

That is 1.01 The Knight

Says it in the story...

I remember Fort Fox well, he was trained by J R Cox (Bunny) at Dundalk for most of his career, he was owned by Dundalk native Dessie McKey and Corkman Frank O'Sullivan , they both worked in England. McKey also owned the Derryhale Hotel in Dundalk which was an all night drinking establishment in the 70s.

Fort Fox had a huge engine but was unable to jump. I think it was a jockey called J Donaghy who rode him in his early races. I remember him winning a 3 mile hurdle at Naas  and he flattened every hurdle.   He was entered in the Cheltenham Gold Cup . I think  1977. They wanted a change of jockey so Frank Berry ( now racing manager to JP was booked) I remember Frank coming to the Derryhale hotel shortly before the Gold Cup after riding work on Fort Fox at Bunny's nearby stables. He didn't look comfortable amongst a crowd of heavy drinkers. Davy Lad won the race and I think Fort Fox fell.
Frank O'Sullivan was also known for breaking the then record price paid for a yearling at Goffs, 40,000 Guineas. Ragusa x Panaview. They called it Ragapan and was trained by the late Kevin Prendergast, turned out very moderate.