It is the national headquarters of thoroughbred breeding and training, a historic country town where 2,600 resident horses are so important they have priority over cars on the street.
But it was not equine athleticism being talked about in whispered tones in Newmarket this week but allegations of a “murky undercurrent of vice” fuelling the sport of kings.
“If the gambling is the thrill and the drink is the fun, then the cocaine is the fuel, because there are not many toilet cisterns in Newmarket that have failed to resemble the sleep slopes of Mont Blanc on a Saturday evening,” wrote Chris Humpleby, a 24-year-old Cambridge graduate, who works as a racing secretary in one of the 70 horse training yards.
The town needed to do more to support teenagers who arrive in the stable with dreams of getting rides on champion horses but end up lonely and vulnerable, he said.
“If you have a problem in this town, you better hope you walk on four legs not two,” wrote Humpleby who felt the full force of the town come down on him when his winning entry for a national writing competition for under 26–year–olds was picked up by the Racing Post.
Newmarket’s town mayor, John Berry, who is also a trainer, branded the article “drivel” and “risible” while George McGrath, chief executive of the National Association of Stable Staff (Nass), described the article as “highly insulting” and “inaccurate description of Newmarket”.
Yes, the town might have drink and drug issues but no more than any medium-sized town, said McGrath. As for gambling? “What do you expect from a town that has the highest population of racehorses in the world?”
A history and education graduate, Humpleby agrees to talk, but only if he meet away from the yard where he works.
“It’s been a surreal week,” he said. But, he added: “I stand by what I wrote.”
“I wasn’t trying to tar everyone with the same brush, all I was saying was there are problems.”
Humpleby says he wasn’t exposed to drugs when growing up in his hometown Carlisle nor when was he at university, but in Newmarket, where he has lived for the past year, he was.
“It was prevalent enough in my experience and that’s why I wrote about it. I’m not saying nothing is being done to support vulnerable people. I’m saying we can always do more.”
He added: “In Newmarket, the horses are the main priority. They are expensive animals and they are extremely well looked after. All I am saying it is quite a contrast between the way multimillion pound animals and stable staff on minimum wage. That’s a stark contrast and it’s food for thought.”
While some of this colleagues in the yard disagree with him, his boss, trainer Roger Varian is sticking by him.
“I am supportive of Chris. I think he has suffered an awful lot of personal attacks which I was think was unfair,” said Varian.
Humpleby’s statements about drug use cannot be corroborated by police or local welfare groups.
“Current figures suggest there has been no increases in criminal damage or ASB [anti-social behaviour] in Newmarket, and that the recreational drugs problem is no worse than any other town or city in the country,” said Insp Mark Shipton.
Charity Racing Welfare said that of the 5,000 interventions it had last year, just 239 related to addiction including drugs, alcohol and gambling.
But under the cover of anonymity, some young residents say Humpleby has touched a nerve.
“I agree with him. I don’t think the town’s riddled with it, but I do think he has a point. To go round the country and pluck 15 and 16 year olds out just because they are small and to bring them down here when some of them might never even have seen a horse before … Most do OK, but it’s not easy. Most of them aren’t qualified to do anything. They can’t cook, they can’t look after themselves. It upsets me. We need to lift everyone up. Our expectations of these people are so low. But I think we should be doing more for them,” said one 20-something who did not want to be named.
On the other end of the age spectrum, Humpleby also struck a chord.
Ireland-born Noel Quinlan, whose 61-year-old prize-winning trainer brother Michael took his own life after years of alcohol issues, said the business does have its problems.
“If you have no girlfriend, no wife, no car and you’re left staring at the four walls and you’re lonely, it’s like the Irish builders in Cricklewood in the 60s and 70s, it’s easy to see how people turn to drink.
Quinlan said nobody came to offer his family help when Michael was alive or after his death.
“There are people in the gutter here, and people don’t do anything for them. Nobody goes out looking for them. They have to go to Wetherspoons and see who is on the slippery slope. They are a bunch of hypocrites,” he said.
Over at the Racing Centre, Nass’ chief McGrath is at pains to point out what an “inaccurate” picture Humpleby painted and the damage it has done to stables trying to recruit talent.
One senior stable staffer, Howard Moss, who hails from a coal-mining village in Nottinghamshire, said there was more chance of getting caught up in drug abuse back home than in Newmarket. “If we were paid enough to have a cocaine habit it would make my job a lot easier.”
