Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) today published the fixture list for 2026, during which the number of fixtures staged will remain at the same level for the third successive year.

In total, 391 fixtures have been allocated with four more ‘floating’ fixtures in reserve, pending demand. There are seven blank Sundays, one more than in 2025.

The Flat season will see an enhanced programme of Sunday fixtures, starting on May 3, showcasing quality flat fixtures in key summer slots.

For the first time in Ireland, a Good Friday meeting will take place at the Curragh on April 3. Racing has been an outlier in terms of other sports with fixtures on Good Friday, as well as other racing jurisdictions, and the fixture was awarded on a two-year trial basis. It will come from the Curragh’s current allocation and therefore will see the Curragh revert to a two-day Guineas meeting in 2026.

The 2026 fixture list includes a condensed National Hunt season at Thurles racecourse to allow for more prudent ground preparation – moving one fixture from mid-March into late January, and two fixtures in October to November and December. Fixtures at the racecourse post March 2026 have been labelled ‘TBC’ (To Be Confirmed) until the future of Thurles is resolved.

Eleven fixtures are set for Tipperary from April to October. However, once the all-weather project at the venue proceeds, some or all of the track’s fixtures will need to be reallocated, and a revised fixture list to account for those changes is linked below.

Tipperary’s 2026 fixtures remain subject to change (‘STC’ on fixture list) and, as per last year’s approval, there is one Tipperary fixture that will not be replaced (October 4) with alternative venues identified for the Pattern races.

Jonathan Mullin, HRI’s Director of Racing, commented:

“Throughout the fixture process we were very conscious that a number of summer weekends, and in particular Sundays, needed a better-quality flat offering and the fixture list for 2026 features a number of changes to reflect that aim.

“It can be seen from tweaks made to the winter National Hunt programme over the past couple of years, that consecutive Sundays of quality racing works well in terms of promotion and awareness, and returning some flat fixtures of high quality to the Sunday roster has been brought about for 2026.

“The Good Friday fixture is a change of policy for Horse Racing Ireland and once the HRI Fixtures Committee reaffirmed their view at the outset of the process that this was a priority for 2026, we sought applications from racecourses and several expressed an interest. Ultimately the successful application came from the Curragh, which will include a number of community and industry initiatives as well as a considerable investment in extra prize money.

“With no increase in fixtures in 2026 this meeting had to come from an applicant track’s current allocation, and so this will effectively mean the Curragh’s Guineas weekend in May will revert to a two-day meeting.

“The fixture list for 2026 also sees some movement in fixtures at Thurles to assist with ground management there as well as concentrating those fixtures in a time of the year when Thurles is seen to its best. This was an option we had raised with Thurles in early summer before their announcement to step away from the business and continued to make sense after the discussions had taken place between the Molony Family, HRI and AIR to keep Thurles operational right through this season to March 2026.

“Concentrating Thurles fixtures in the period of the calendar when Thurles has excelled as a racetrack, and when National Hunt horses of all levels seek the opportunity to run, seemed a prudent move in the circumstances and we are grateful to the Molony Family and Thurles’ new clerk of the course Paul Moloney for their flexibility.”

DOWNLOAD 2026 IRISH RACING FIXTURE LIST HERE

CLICK HERE FOR ALTERNATIVE TIPPERARY FIXTURES

More on this in The Irish Field this weekend.