UK Horse Racing Fixtures 2026

UK Horse Racing Fixtures – Dates, Venues & Meetings

The table below lists the UK horse racing fixtures for 2026, covering both flat and National Hunt meetings. It includes confirmed race dates, venues, racecourses, and meeting types, and is updated regularly to reflect official changes announced by the British Horseracing Authority. Use the calendar to quickly find upcoming meetings or plan ahead for major festivals.

What to Expect This Year

The British horse racing community is in for a busy year, full of diverse races, established winners, and hopeful newbies. A total of 1,458 meetings have been planned to be held from January to December 2026. Some of the most anticipated fixtures and races include the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the Grand National, the Royal Ascot, the St. Ledger Stakes, the 2,000 Guineas Stakes, and so many more.

All horse racing fixtures are overseen by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) if they are conducted on the territory of England, Scotland, or Wales. Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) regulates everything related to horse racing on the entire island of Ireland.

Flat Race Season vs Jump Race Season

The year starts with the second half of the 2025/2026 National Hunt season. It will carry on until April and then resume again in October. Flat horse racing fixtures 2026 will take place between April and October. 

The National Hunt season includes two types of races: hurdles (with smaller obstacles, or hurdles, to be jumped over) and steeple chases (with larger obstacles, or fences, to be jumped over). This year the jump racing season will include 561 meetings.

Flat races are conducted from mid-spring to mid to late autumn. They owe their name to the lack of obstacles on the track, with horses competing in speed by running from point A to point B. This year there will be a total of 897 flat races conducted in Britain from April till October.

Major UK Racing Festivals in 2026: Key Fixtures & Dates

Both flat and National Hunt UK horse racing fixtures this year will include a string of large and small meetings in both seasons. However, there are several names among them that every horse racing enthusiast hopes to attend and witness history made on the tracks. Take a look at some of the greatest UK horse racing festivals below to choose which one suits your racing interests the most.

Cheltenham Festival

• Date: Tuesday, 10 March – Friday, 13 March 2026
• Racecourse: Cheltenham Racecourse
• Type: National Hunt
• Headline race: The Cheltenham Gold Cup

As the famed Cheltenham roar rings through Prestbury Park, it announces the start of the very first race of the Cheltenham Festival. One of Britain’s two largest National Hunt meetings, the Festival includes 28 races, with 14 out of them being Grade 1 competitions.

Grand National Festival

• Date: Thursday, 9 April – Saturday, 11 April 2026
• Racecourse: Aintree Racecourse 
• Type: National Hunt
• Headline race: Grand National

Anyone who takes any interest in horse racing will tell you that the Grand National Festival is not just a significant event in Britain’s jump racing calendar, but a cultural phenomenon of national proportion. It includes 21 races, with 11 Grade 1 competitions.

Royal Ascot

• Date: Tuesday, 16 June – Saturday, 20 June 2026
• Racecourse: Ascot Racecourse
• Type: flat racing
• Headline race: The Ascot Gold Cup

The crown jewel of Britain’s flat season, the Royal Ascot week is also the pinnacle of the country’s summer social calendar — as well as the most valuable competition in terms of prize money. It hosts 35 races over its course, with 8 of them classified as Group 1. 

Epsom Derby Festival

• Date: Friday, 5 June – Saturday, 6 June
• Racecourse: Epsom Downs Racecourse
• Type: flat racing
• Headline race: The Epsom Derby

Often referred to domestically as just “the Derby”, Epsom Derby Festival is home to not one but two of the five British Classics. The third oldest and the fourth one chronologically on the calendar gave its name to the entire event. Epsom Derby Festival typically includes 14 to 15 races.

Goodwood Festival

• Date: Tuesday, 28 July – Saturday, 1 August 2026
• Racecourse: Goodwood Racecourse
• Type: flat racing
• Headline race: The Goodwood Cup

Each of the five days of the Goodwood Festival are known as Premier Racedays, indicating the quality of performance you are going to see on the tracks. Often affectionately referred to as the Glorious Goodwood, it features 35 to 38 races.

Welsh Grand National

• Date: Sunday, 27 December 2026
• Racecourse: Chepstow Racecourse
• Type: National Hunt
• Headline race: Welsh Grand National Handicap Chase

The Welsh Grand National is the best way to spend one of the last days of the year. The biggest and most prestigious horse racing event in Wales, it includes 7 races.

Feature Races to Watch in 2026

Each race conducted during a horse racing meeting holds an importance of its own, as it provides the venue for horses of various ages and experience to prove themselves to be the best. Across the UK horse racing fixtures schedule, some stand out in their glory, having earned the reputation of the most prestigious wins every horse trainer strives to achieve.

2026 Flat Racing Highlights

2,000 Guineas Stakes

• Classification: Group 1
• Distance: 1 mile (1.6 km)
• Horses: three year old thoroughbred colts and fillies
• Meeting: The Guineas Festival
• Racecourse: Newmarket Racecourse 
• Date: Saturday, 2 May 2026
• 2025 winner: Ruling Court (jockey William Buick, trainer Charlie Appleby)

The Oaks

• Classification: Group 1
• Distance: 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 yards (2,420 metres)
• Horses: three year old fillies
• Meeting: Epsom Derby Festival
• Racecourse: Epsom Downs Racecourse
• Date: Friday, June 5 2026
• 2025 winner: Minnie Hauk (jockey Ryan Moore, trainer Aidan O’Brien)

St Leger Stakes

• Classification: Group 1
• Distance: 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 115 yards (2,921 metres)
• Horses: three year old thoroughbred colts and fillies
• Meeting: St Leger Festival
• Racecourse: Doncaster Racecourse
• Date: Saturday, 12 September 2026
• 2025 winner: Scandinavia (jockey Tom Marquand, trainer Aidan O’Brien)

2026 National Hunt Highlights

Champion Hurdle

• Classification: Grade 1
• Distance: about 2 miles and ½ furlong (2 miles and 87 yards or 3,298 metres)
• Obstacles: 8 hurdles
• Horses: male and female four years or older
• Meeting: Cheltenham Festival
• Racecourse: Cheltenham Racecourse
• Date: Tuesday, 10 March 2026
• 2025 winner: Golden Ace (jockey Lorcan Williams, trainer Jeremy Scott)

Cheltenham Gold Cup 

• Classification: Grade 1
• Distance: about 3 miles 2 ½ furlongs (3 miles 2 furlongs and 70 yards, or 5,294 m) 
• Obstacles: 22 fences
• Horses: male and female five years or older
• Meeting: Cheltenham Festival
• Racecourse: Cheltenham Racecourse
• Date: Friday, 13 March 2026
• 2025 winner: Inothewayurthinkin (jockey Mark Walsh, trainer Gavin Cromwell)

King George VI Chase

• Classification: Grade 1
• Distance: about 3 miles (4,828 metres)
• Obstacles: 18 fences
• Horses: male and female four years or older
• Meeting: Christmas Festival
• Racecourse: Kempton Park
• Date: Saturday, 26 December 2026
• 2025 winner: The Jukebox Man (jockey Ben Jones, trainer Ben Pauling)

For the full list of UK horse racing fixtures, see the calendar table in the beginning of this page.