Palace House, the National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art, the National Horseracing Museum, Tattersalls racehorse auctioneers, and two of the world's foremost equine hospitals for horse health, are in the town, which is surrounded by over sixty horse breeding studs.

On account of its leading position in the multibillion-pound horse racing and breeding industry, it is also a major export centre.

Newmarket's name was first recorded in Latin as Novo Mercato in 1219 (according to The National Archives, Feet of Fines CP25/1/23/9).

The Novum Forum c.1200 recorded in many placename dictionaries such as that by Mills,[5] is an error; this was actually the surname de novo foro of a man from Yorkshire who had no connection to Newmarket.

[6] In 1223, Richard de Argentein was granted licence to hold an annual fair in Newmarket (from The National Archives, Henry III Fine Roll C60/18).

From 1606 to 1610, he built the Newmarket Palace, an estate covering 1 acre (4,000 square metres) of land from the High Street to All Saints' churchyard, and thus established the town as a royal resort.

The first palace building suffered from subsidence and sank on one side when King James was in residence in March 1613.

[7] Simon Basil, and later, Inigo Jones, were commissioned to build new lodgings for the King and the Prince of Wales.

In early June 1647, Charles was captured at Holdenby House in Northamptonshire and brought to Newmarket as a prisoner.

In 1668, he commissioned William Samwell to build a new palace on the High Street (on the site of the present United Reformed Church).

[10] Jockey Club stewards Charles Bunbury, Ralph Dutton and Thomas Panton told the prince that if he continued to employ Chifney, "no gentleman would start against him".

[16] Aired on 12 February 2012, the British television series Time Team excavated on the site of Charles II's palace at Newmarket and found foundations of racehorse stables.

The area of Suffolk containing Newmarket is nearly an exclave, with only a narrow strip of territory linking it to the rest of the county.

[30] The Local Government Commission for England suggested in the 1960s that the border around Newmarket could be altered in West Suffolk's favour.

Conversely, the 1972 Local Government Bill, as originally proposed, would have transferred the town (and Haverhill) to Cambridgeshire.

The grassland of Newmarket's training grounds has been developed over hundreds of years of careful maintenance, and is generally regarded as some of the finest in the world.

This large earthwork starts in neighbouring Woodditton (sometimes spelt as Wood Ditton) and ends in Reach, a distance of over seven miles (eleven kilometres).

Darley Stud, owners of New Approach, Cape Cross, Dubawi, Sepoy and Raven's Pass own large areas of land to the south of the town.

Juddmonte Farms, owner of Frankel, Observatory, Dansili, Champs Elysees and Three Valleys, also have a large stud nearby.

The Save Historic Newmarket group, an organisation dedicated to maintaining the town's unique heritage as the world headquarters of racing, has become increasingly vocal in recent years.

[42] The group, composed of local residents, supports sustainable development in the town and aims to make Newmarket a more attractive destination for visitors.

It branched off the West Anglia Main Line at Great Chesterford and ran about 15 miles (25 kilometres) north-eastwards.

There was an attractive terminus in Newmarket, with intermediate stations at Bourne Bridge, Balsham Road and Six Mile Bottom.

Regular bus services run to the neighbouring towns of Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, Ely and Mildenhall.

[44] Various National Express coach services serve the town: London (Victoria Coach Station) to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft; Norwich to Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick Airports; and the cross country Clacton-on-Sea to Liverpool service which travels via Cambridge, Peterborough, Leicester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester.

In late 2006, Newmarket introduced a Park and Ride service running from Studlands industrial estate to the town centre, which was replaced by an hourly bus route, the number 11 (formerly number 10), whilst at the same time parking charges were introduced to the town.

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC East and ITV Anglia.Television signals are received from the Sandy Heath TV transmitter.

A greyhound racing track was opened around the Cricket Field Road ground, the venue used by Newmarket Town FC.

[52] These included: Famous residents of Newmarket include jockeys Frankie Dettori,[59] William Buick, Ryan Moore and Tom Queally as well as trainers Sir Michael Stoute, John Gosden, James Fanshawe, Saeed bin Suroor, Charlie Appleby, and Marco Botti[60] and former West Indian cricketer Michael Holding.