After weeks of unseasonably warm temperatures, the only hint of spring as Newmarket opened its doors for a new season here on Tuesday was a small flight of swallows over the Rowley Mile – back from Africa in time for a wet and chilly first day at the Craven meeting. Weather-wise, it felt more like Plumpton in January than the home of Flat racing on the first afternoon of a new campaign.
But the conditions could not dampen the sense of opening-day anticipation as the first of 2025’s Guineas hopefuls went to post for their Classic trials on the Rowley Mile, before a potential tilt at racing immortality back here in less than three weeks.
