2026 Irish Racing Fixture: Key Dates & Festivals, How To Watch

The 2026 Irish horse racing season features premier flat and jumps action at iconic venues.

Major Festivals 2026

Dublin Racing Festival (Leopardstown): Jan 31-Feb 1. Key Cheltenham trial.
Irish Grand National (Fairyhouse): Easter Monday, Mar 29. Top jumps handicap.
Punchestown Festival (Punchestown): Apr 28-May 2. Jumps season finale.
Irish Guineas (Curragh): May 2-3. First classics for 3-year-olds.
Irish Derby Festival (Curragh): Jun 27-28. Premier flat classic.
Galway Races (Galway): Jul 27-Aug 2. Premier summer festival.
Irish Champions Weekend (Leopardstown & Curragh): Sep 12-13. Europe's richest flat weekend.

Key Racecourses

The Curragh: Flat racing HQ, hosts all classics.
Leopardstown: Premier Dublin track for major festivals.
Punchestown: National Hunt headquarters.
Galway: Festival atmosphere.
Fairyhouse: Home of the Irish Grand National.

📺 How to Watch

TV: Racing TV (live), TG4/RTE (highlights), ITV (selected UK coverage).
Digital: Free streams on HRI Player and racecourse apps/sites.

Season At A Glance

Winter-Spring: National Hunt focus (Jan-Apr).
Summer: Flat racing peak, classics season (May-Sep).
Autumn: Quality flat & jumps return (Oct-Dec).

The season blends historic races with modern events across Ireland. Check official HRI websites for final race times and tickets.

Key Dates Summary:

January 31-February 1: Dublin Racing Festival
March 29: Irish Grand National
April 28-May 2: Punchestown Festival
May 2-3: Irish Guineas Weekend
June 27-28: Irish Derby Festival
July 27-August 2: Galway Summer Festival
September 12-13: Irish Champions Weekend

ANUARY

Thu 1: Fairyhouse (Season Opener)
Thu 1: Tramore (Season Opener)
Sat 3: Cork
Sun 4: Naas
Thu 8: Gowran Park
Thu 9: Dundalk (Evening)
Sat 10: Fairyhouse
Sun 11: Punchestown (Key Jump Track)
Mon 12: Punchestown (Key Jump Track)
Tue 13: Dundalk
Thu 15: Fairyhouse
Thu 16: Dundalk (Evening)
Sat 17: Navan
Sun 18: Thurles
Tue 20: Down Royal
Thu 22: Gowran Park
Thu 23: Dundalk (Evening)
Sat 24: Fairyhouse
Sun 25: Naas
Mon 26: Punchestown (Key Jump Track)
Tue 27: Limerick
Wed 28: Dundalk
Thu 29: Thurles
Thu 30: Dundalk (Evening)
Sat 31: Leopardstown (Key Track, Dublin Racing Festival build-up)

FEBRUARY

Sun 1: Leopardstown (Key Track, Dublin Racing Festival)
Mon 2: Punchestown (Key Jump Track)
Wed 4: Fairyhouse
Thu 5: Thurles
Thu 6: Dundalk (Evening)
Sat 7: Naas
Sun 8: Navan
Wed 11: Dundalk
Thu 12: Gowran Park
Thu 13: Dundalk (Evening)
Sat 14: Gowran Park
Thu 15: Punchestown (Key Jump Track)
Wed 18: Punchestown (Key Jump Track)
Thu 19: Thurles
Thu 20: Dundalk (Evening)
Sat 21: Fairyhouse
Sun 22: Naas
Thu 26: Gowran Park
Thu 27: Dundalk (Evening)
Sat 28: Navan

MARCH

Mon 2: Leopardstown (Key Track)
Tue 3: Leopardstown (Key Track)
Wed 4: Naas
Thu 5: Thurles
Thu 6: Dundalk (Evening)
Sat 7: Gowran Park
Sun 8: Naas
Thu 12: Limerick
Thu 13: Dundalk (Evening)
Sat 15: The Curragh (Headquarters of Irish Flat Racing)
Tue 17: Down Royal (St. Patrick's Day)
Thu 17: Wexford
Thu 19: Cork
Thu 20: Dundalk (Evening)
Sat 21: Navan
Sun 22: Limerick
Sun 22: Naas
Thu 26: Gowran Park (Evening)
Sat 27: Dundalk (Evening)
Sat 28: The Curragh (Headquarters of Irish Flat Racing)
Mon 30: Navan
Tue 31: Limerick (Evening)

APRIL

Wed 1: Dundalk (Evening)
Thu 2: Gowran Park (Evening)
Thu 3: The Curragh (Headquarters of Irish Flat Racing)
Sat 4: Cork
Sat 4: Fairyhouse (Irish Grand National Festival)
Sun 5: Cork
Sun 5: Fairyhouse (Irish Grand National Festival)
Mon 6: Cork
Mon 6: Fairyhouse (Irish Grand National Festival)
Thu 8: Gowran Park
Thu 9: Gowran Park (Evening)
Thu 10: Dundalk (Evening)
Sun 14: Downpatrick
Mon 15: Kilbeggan (Evening)
Thu 18: Leopardstown (Evening, Key Track)
Thu 19: Down Royal (Evening)
Thu 20: Limerick (Evening)
Sat 20: Down Royal
Mon 22: Bellewstown (Evening)
Wed 24: Naas (Evening)
Thu 26: The Curragh (Evening, Headquarters of Irish Flat Racing)
Sat 27: The Curragh (Headquarters of Irish Flat Racing)
Sun 28: The Curragh (Headquarters of Irish Flat Racing)
Tue 30: Roscommon (Evening)
Tue 30: Tipperary (Subject to Change)

JULY

Wed 1: Tipperary (Evening, Subject to Change)
Thu 2: Bellewstown (Evening)
Thu 2: Tipperary (Evening, Subject to Change)
Thu 3: Bellewstown (Evening)
Thu 3: Bellewstown (Evening)
Sat 4: Bellewstown (Evening)
Thu 4: Tipperary (Evening)
Thu 4: Tipperary (Evening)
Mon 6: Roscommon (Evening)
Tue 7: Tramore (Evening)
Wed 8: Fairyhouse (Evening)
Thu 9: Leopardstown (Evening, Key Track)
Thu 10: Cork (Evening)
Thu 10: Kilbeggan (Evening)
Thu 11: Limerick (Evening)
Thu 11: Navan
Sun 12: Dundalk
Sun 12: Sligo
Mon 13: Killarney (Evening)
Tue 14: Downpatrick
Thu 14: Killarney (Evening)
Thu 15: Killarney (Evening)
Thu 16: Killarney (Evening)
Thu 17: Leopardstown (Evening, Key Track)
Thu 18: Leopardstown (Evening, Key Track)
Thu 19: Down Royal (Evening)
Thu 20: Limerick (Evening)
Sat 19: The Curragh (Headquarters of Irish Flat Racing)
Mon 20: Bellewstown (Evening)
Thu 21: Bellewstown (Evening)
Wed 22: Naas (Evening)
Thu 22: Bellewstown (Evening)
Thu 23: Bellewstown (Evening)
Thu 24: Cork (Evening)
Thu 25: Galway (Evening)
Thu 26: The Curragh (Headquarters of Irish Flat Racing)
Sat 20: Bellewstown
Thu 21: Ballinrobe (Evening)
Thu 21: Roscommon (Evening)
Thu 21: Roscommon (Evening)
Thu 21: Roscommon (Evening)
Sat 22: The Curragh (Headquarters of Irish Flat Racing)
Sat 22: Killarney
Sun 23: Naas
Mon 24: Bellewstown (Evening)
Tue 25: Bellewstown (Evening)
Wed 26: Bellewstown (Evening)
Thu 27: Navan
Thu 28: Down Royal (Evening)
Thu 28: Bellewstown (Evening)
Thu 29: The Curragh (Headquarters of Irish Flat Racing)
Sun 30: Tipperary (Subject to Change)
Mon 31: Downpatrick
Mon 31: Roscommon (Evening)

SEPTEMBER

Tue 1: Gowran Park
Wed 2: Gowran Park (Evening)
Thu 3: Kilbeggan (Evening)
Thu 4: Gowran Park (Evening)
Thu 4: Kilbeggan (Evening)
Thu 5: Navan
Mon 7: Galway (Evening)
Tue 8: Galway (Evening)
Wed 9: Cork (Evening)
Thu 10: Laytown (Evening, Unique Beach Race)
Thu 11: Bellewstown (Evening)
Thu 12: Leopardstown (Evening, Key Track)
Thu 13: The Curragh (Headquarters of Irish Flat Racing, Irish Champions Weekend)
Tue 15: Punchestown (Key Jump Track)
Thu 17: Naas
Thu 18: Gowran Park
Thu 19: Gowran Park
Thu 19: Navan
Sun 20: Listowel
Mon 21: Fairyhouse (Evening)
Thu 21: Listowel (Listowel Races Festival)
Thu 21: Listowel (Listowel Races Festival)
Thu 21: Listowel (Listowel Races Festival)
Mon 21: Listowel (Listowel Races Festival)
Thu 21: Listowel (Listowel Races Festival)
Thu 21: Listowel (Listowel Races Festival)
Sat 19: Gowran Park
Thu 21: The Curragh (Headquarters of Irish Flat Racing)
Mon 20: Roscommon
Tue 20: Bellewstown
Wed 30: Sligo

OCTOBER

Thu 1: Bellewstown
Thu 1: Gowran Park
Thu 2: Dundalk (Evening)
Thu 2: Gowran Park
Thu 3: The Curragh (Headquarters of Irish Flat Racing)
Sat 3: Gowran Park
Thu 4: Killarney
Sun 4: Tipperary (Subject to Change)
Mon 5: Fairyhouse
Mon 5: Killarney
Thu 6: Galway
Wed 7: Navan
Thu 8: Thurles (To Be Confirmed)
Thu 9: Tramore
Thu 9: Downpatrick
Thu 9: Dundalk (Evening)
Thu 10: Fairyhouse
Sun 10: Naas
Sun 11: Cork
Thu 11: Naas
Mon 12: Roscommon
Tue 13: Punchestown (Key Jump Track)
Wed 14: Punchestown (Key Jump Track)
Thu 15: The Curragh (Headquarters of Irish Flat Racing)
Thu 16: Dundalk (Evening)
Thu 17: Leopardstown (Key Track)
Thu 18: Limerick
Thu 19: Limerick
Mon 19: Gowran Park
Thu 20: The Curragh (Headquarters of Irish Flat Racing)
Thu 21: Navan
Thu 22: Gowran Park
Thu 23: Dundalk (Evening)

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