A legendary Newmarket trainer, a champion racehorse, and a much loved middle school, could all be celebrated with roads named after them on a new town housing development.
Newmarket town councillors were asked for suggestions for names for five streets on Suffolk County Council’s 50-home development on part of the former St Felix Middle School site in Fordham Road.
Those put forward were 10-times champion trainer Sir Henry Cecil, who died in June 2013 and during an illustrious career had sent out the winners of 25 domestic Classics.
Sir Henry Cecil with his 2011 2,000 Guineas winner Frankel
Most famous of those was his 2011 2,000 Guineas winner Frankel, arguably the greatest British-trained racehorse of them all, and whose name has also been put forward for one of the new streets.
Another suggestion is St Felix Drive as a nod to the much-loved middle school which once stood on the site before it was closed as part of the county’s re-organisation of education, but is still remembered with great fondness by many families in Newmarket.
Another racehorse whose name has been suggested is Shergar.
Trained in Newmarket by Sir Michael Stoute , the colt made headlines back in 1983 recording one of the easiest Derby wins in the history of the great race.
Kidnapped by the IRA after he retired to stud in Ireland, his fate remains a mystery to this day.
Finally town councillors agreed a road should bear the name of Sir John Astley, one of Newmarket’s most prominent characters in the second half of the 19th century who raised the funds to build the first Astley Institute in Lisburn Road to give the town’s stable lads somewhere warm and safe to spend their time away from work.
The name suggestions will now be considered by the county council.