At a meeting of Newmarket Town Council on Monday evening, one of the most popular members of Newmarket's racing community, Philippa Winter, became Mayor of the town, a position which she will hold for the next 12 months.
Philippa Winter's late husband John was one of Newmarket's most successful and respected trainers from the late 1960s and through the '70s and '80s. Based in Highfield in Newmarket's Bury Road, John Winter, younger brother of the National Hunt legend Fred and son of the former leading jockey and trainer Fred Winter Snr, trained for several of the sport's leading owners and prepared some very successful horses including Realm (GB) (Princely Gift {GB}), Double-U-Jay (GB) (Major Portion {GB}) and the top-class full-brothers Balidar (GB) (Will Somers {GB}) and Balliol (GB).
Philippa Winter has been one of Newmarket's most active Town Councillors in recent years, most notably as the Chair of the Community Services Committee, in which role she has done a lot of work to improve the appearance of the town. The vote to appoint her as the town's Mayor was unanimous and reflects the respect which she has earned from her colleagues. She succeeds the outgoing Mayor Michael Jefferys, who will now serve as her deputy.
She is the latest of several figures from within the racing community to serve as the town's Mayor in recent years, following both Rachel Hood (wife of multiple champion trainer John Gosden) and John Berry, whose roles within the sport include both trainer and occasional TDN columnist. Another recent Newmarket Mayor with strong connections to the sport has been popular local businessman Andy Drummond who, through his company Lettergold, has been a long-standing and loyal race-sponsor at Newmarket.
Philippa Winter stands as an independent on Newmarket Town Council, a body on which the majority of the Councillors are independents.
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