THE body responsible has changed, and so has the language, since the Jockey Club first established a legal right to warn undesirable individuals off Newmarket Heath. Originally the sentence only applied to those parts of the heath occupied by tenants of the Jockey Club, and tended to be aimed at those who made illicit attempts to watch horses at exercise, with a view to selling their observations to punters. Touts, in effect.

In time, the jurisdiction of the Club came to cover racecourse who signed up to the Rules and Orders of the Jockey Club, and premises licensed by the club, so to be warned off meant to be excluded from the business place of horseracing.