Spectacular sunny return for Newton Races

The long wait finally came to an end for South Devon horse racing fans, as Newton Abbot opened their 2025 season with a day of glorious sunshine bathing thousands of excited fans.

After the tumultuous start to the 2024 racing calendar, which saw the Newton racecourse lose their opening three fixtures due to a waterlogged course, the beautiful spring weather we have enjoyed over recent weeks is hopefully a good omen at the start of a new era.

John Baker has taken over as CEO of Newton Abbot Racecourse, bringing more than three decades of experience to the role, including a spell in charge of the Grand National at Aintree.

The stage was set, and the horses and jockeys delivered.

As Baker recently described: “The location is amazing, the prize money is great, all the leading trainers speak very highly of the course. We have a great fixture list of racing through the summer, but it’s unique because it’s summer jumping, one of the few tracks offering that.

“This should be a 365-day venue through the year, so the excitement and challenge of taking this on was impossible to refuse. We have 40,000 racegoers during the year, and we want to increase that to 50 or 60.

“The facilities are amazing, we want to invest more into that, really compete with the best courses in the UK. It is a wonderful opportunity with huge potential.

“From a sporting perspective, we are lucky to have the support of leading trainers, and we do have really good prize money.

“Our job at Newton Abbot Racecourse is to match that with the facilities and the experience for people visiting our venue. The challenge is to put us on the map, to do things not already happening in the industry.”

Pick up the next edition of the Torbay Weekly for race reports, as the attention of all at Newton Races switches to the Easter Saturday meeting, one of the major days in the course calendar.

The 2025 Racing Fixtures in Newton Abbot
April 19 – Easter Saturday Racing
May 7 – Midweek Racing
May 14 – Midweek Racing
May 28 – All About the Horse Family Day
June 4 – Midweek Racing
June 13 – Evening Racing
June 24 – Ladies Evening
July 4 – Friday Racing
July 14 – Monday Racing
July 20 – Family Day
August 21 – Family Day
August 30 – Saturday Racing
September 9 – Tuesday Racing
September 19 – Friday Racing
September 29 – Monday Racing
October 18 – Saturday Racing
October 29 – Family Day