Fun summer day out at the Races

Yesterday on a beautiful sunny day hubby and I went to Newmarket for a day.  It was our 8 year anniversary on Tuesday, so to celebrate hubbys parents have taken the boys to their house in Essex for 2 nights and we get to have grown-up time. We live in Knebworth so Newmarket is a 1 hour train ride away.  We had such a fun summer day out at the races!

A Day at the Races - A Fun summer day out

Every saturday during the summer holidays the run different themed race days. It’s a great day out for a group of grown up, couple or the family.

Check this out for more details Newmarket Races – Whats On




How to get there.

We trekked up to Newmarket on the train £13 each, a bargain compared to going into London. I know I could have saved on this if I had the Two together railcard which saves you an extra 1/3rd on both tickets. It’s on my list to buy one (£30 for one year worth of savings, handy if you often travel with one person). There is free bus from Newmarket train station that drops you to the race course.

A Day at the Races - A Fun summer day out

We bought our tickets on the gate, but could have saved a few pounds if we had pre-booked. There are 3 sections to buy tickets for:-

* Premier Enclosure is £22.50 pre-booked online (dress code applies, lots of hats and ties, stand looks over finishing line)
* Grandstand/paddock is £14.40 (see the horses walking the paddock before races, no dress code, next stand down the track)
* Family Enclosure is £9.00 (next stand down the track after the grandstand, includes lots of family playgrounds, family fun)

..whatever ticket you go for children go free 🙂

newmarket-racing

What to eat.

There are plenty of food and drink places, but my top tip is to take your own, because its very expensive. A jug of pimms was £28.50 and a pint of carling/cider was £5. We were going to get champagne until I saw it was £78 for a bottle of Moet Rose:-( We got a chicken fajitas for the street market type stalls which was £8 each. Lovely food, but that is one expensive fajita. We saw lots of people with cool boxes and blankets so that is obviously a good plan.

jug of pies




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I did search for free stuff, very happy to get this hat ‘free’ with a can of Greenalls gin and pink. A good blag as I was soooo hot I deffo needed a hat.

We bought a racecard when we walked in for £3.  Also as we walked in, we did so at the same time as a group of bodyguards… Prince Charles and Camilla were also there yesterday!

Races started at 1:40 and we had an hour after arriving to grab a jug of pimms and pick our horses whilst sat in the sun. Hubby had to explain alot of the racecard, during which I got bored, so I selected horses based on the names that stood out/meant anything to me. Directorship, Sweet Dream, Bohemian Symphony, Expensive Date, Maybe Definitely, Fullon Clarets. There are 30 min-ish breaks between the races to relax, grab food, drinks etc. I did some small bets, 2 of my horses won and I made a ‘huge’ profit of £10. I don’t promote gambling in any way, its only a bit of fun. Point proven by hubby who didn’t get one winner and lost his betting pot (he was gutted that I beat him ;-0) Here is the beautiful Maybe Definitely, one of my winners, checking me out ;-0.

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Racing afternoon finished.. time for dinner!

Races over by 5pm so we headed back to courtesy bus to train station.  We had to change trains at Cambridge so we hopped out and used Tripadvisor to find a nearby well recommended restaurant. We found The Sea Tree, handily girl on train next to us overheard and told us she lived near there and that it was very good. I quote from their website – The Sea Tree is an alternative fish bar offering a menu of traditional fish and chips alongside alternatives such as grilled mackerel, calamari and fish stew to eat-in or takeaway.




Beautiful clean food, tasted super fresh and light. I went for chefs recommendation, Tuna burger with chips, salad and tomato salsa. Hubby went traditional and had large cod, chips, curry sauce and mushy peas. I had pinot grigio, hubby had peroni. The staff were lovely and friendly.

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So if you are near the train station in Cambridge, walk 12 mins to this gem. It’s worth it. This lot cost £39, including the drinks.

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Train home. And bed after a long, but fun day 🙂

For more money saving tips, days out, family fun ideas checkout my other blogs posts.

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Lynn Beattie

Aka Mrs MummyPenny

Personal Finance Expert

I write about personal finance made simple, lifestyle choices that will save you time and money, as well as products and services that offer great value.

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