Heritage Centre to display QIPCO Guineas Trophies

From the oldest to the newest – The QIPCO 1000 and 2000 Guineas trophies sit alongside the Panathenaic prize-amphora currently on loan from the British Museum

In the lead-up to the start of this year’s QIPCO British Champions Series, Newmarket’s National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art will display the two trophies that will be awarded to the winning owners of the 2017 QIPCO 2,000 Guineas and QIPCO 1,000 Guineas in under two weeks’ time.

These prestigious sterling silver plates, commissioned each year by sponsor QIPCO, have been installed in the public Atrium of the Heritage Centre and will remain in situ until Wednesday 3^rd May. The public Atrium is free to access.

2017 also marks the 60^th anniversary of a remarkable year for Lester Piggott, which included a first victory in the 2,000 Guineas aboard Crepello. A wall display in the public Atrium maps out this year’s 35 race QIPCO British Champions Series, eight of which Piggott won in 1957. Related artefacts on display in the Museum include Piggott’s 1957 trophies from the Derby and the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, Crepello’s hoof and the Royal silk cap which Piggott wore aboard Carrozza in the Oaks, when providing Her Majesty with her first Classic winner.

Chris Garibaldi, Director of the National Heritage Centre said: We are delighted that the QIPCO 1000 and 2000 Guineas trophies are on display at the National Heritage Centre in the public atrium, joining a stunning collection of trophies already on show and becoming the newest available to see. This beautiful space provides a perfect window for visitors to The Tack Room restaurant, or Heritage Centre to enjoy these stunning objects before they are won in the first two Classics of the season at Newmarket Racecourses next week.”

A selection of the Museum’s historic trophies will form a ‘Trophy Trail. Visitors of all ages are invited to locate the different trophies on display throughout the Museum, including a Panathenaic prize-amphora, which is currently on loan from the British Museum and which is the oldest horseracing trophy in known existence.

The National Heritage Centre was formally opened on 3^rd November, 2016 by Her Majesty The Queen. It has since received high acclaim for its exhibitions, which cover a wide range of aspects of horseracing, including the history of the sport and Newmarket’s role in its development, the science of the racehorse, and the life of a racehorse after retirement.

In Palace House, originally built for Charles II and located across the road from the Museum, visitors will find the Fred Packard Gallery of British Sporting Art. This gallery houses the works of racing’s most renowned artists including George Stubbs, John Herring, Sir Alfred Munnings, John Skeaping and Nic Fiddian Green.

The QIPCO 2,000 Guineas and QIPCO 1,000 Guineas will take place at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile Racecourse on Saturday 6^th May and Sunday 7^th May, respectively. The Group 1 contests are the first two ‘Classics’ of the season and the opening races of this year’s QIPCO British Champions Series. The Series comprises 35 of the nation’s best Flat races and concludes at QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday 21^st October, with £4.3million in prize money on offer.