After a host of entries and a number of absolutely brilliant photos, the winner of the Discover Newmarket Photo Competition has been chosen!  The winning picture was submitted by Sam Middleton and was taken during the Tattersalls Breeze-Up Sales earlier this year.

The image perfectly captures the relationship between horse and rider as they hit their stride along the famed Newmarket gallops in front of an audience of keen prospective buyers on a  grey day.  It took a long time for Discover Newmarket team to whittle down the impressive list of entries to just a top five and then an eventual winner but eventually it was decided that Sam’s picture was the one to beat them all. Well done Sam!

As Sam explained when contacted by Discover Newmarket, he had just purchased his new camera, a Nikon D7200 and as a result decided to spend the morning in Newmarket, capturing the action.

“I spent the first part of the morning on the gallops and then headed to the breeze-ups. I chose the image as the grey horse and the background blend nicely and it’s captured the horse in motion clearly,” said Sam, who will be receiving  the BEST OF NEWMARKET hamper shortly. Included in the prize was a bottle of the signature Newmarket Gin, several boxers of the famed Powters Newmarket Sausages as well as admission to the National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art and The National Stud. Sam will also enjoy Premier Enclosure tickets to  Newmarket’s Rowley Mile Racecourse on Sunday 5th May at the QIPCO Guineas Festival.

The horse in question in the photo is a son of Exchange Rate and was subsequently named Rockshore. He  is in training with Tony Coyle, who also owns the two-year-old, and has run five times, with a best placed second on his penultimate start.

There was some tough competition for the top spot with Chantal Wootten, Juliette Sampson, Lenny Anderton and Jayne Odell all featuring in the top five alongside the winning entry. A massive round of applause from us all as these were some great images.

A very big thank you to everyone who submitted their entries, it was amazing to see the different experiences that people have had while living in and visiting Newmarket. We look forward to doing a competition like this in future so make sure that you keep snapping those fantastic moments and keep them ready for next time round. Keep an eye on our website and social media channels as we will be featuring these images whenever possible. You can like our page on FACEBOOK by clicking here, or give us a follow on INSTAGRAM or TWITTER.