LIKE others before him who have ridden in the historic Newmarket Town Plate, Ian Gault is already looking forward to next year following his first start in the three-mile, six-furlong flat race last Thursday.

First run in 1666, when won by its founder, King Charles II, the race takes place every year on the round course at Newmarket, but the Co Antrim farrier only learned about it by chance when planning a trip to a friend’s wedding in Cambridge.