For handicappers, the horse racing season never ends. Sometimes, though, there’s a brief time out from the madness of picking winners in the biggest races of the year.
Now that the 42nd Breeders’ Cup is in the rearview mirror, with a slew of winners being retired and others given a break in serious training, let’s look ahead to closing out 2025 and what big dates are for 2026.
In 2025, 93 Grade 1 races were on the North American horse racing calendar. After 14 Grade 1s were run at the Breeders’ Cup on Oct. 31-Nov. 1. There are five remaining – all in California.
At Del Mar, there’s the Hollywood Derby (G1) on Nov. 29 and the Matriarch Stakes (G1) on Nov. 30, closing day at Del Mar.
On opening day at Santa Anita (Dec. 26), there’s the American Oaks (G1), the La Brea Stakes (G1), and the Malibu Stakes (G1).
In recent years, a few Grade 1s have been downgraded to Grade 2 by the American Graded Stakes Committee, including the Clark Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs on Nov. 28, and the Cigar Mile (G2) at Aqueduct on Dec. 6.
There are a handful of preps offering qualifying points for the 2026 Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the Triple Crown on May 2 at Churchill Downs.
The Races:
The road to the Kentucky Oaks (G1) on May 1 also has its share of point-qualifiers to close out the year.
The Races:
While Pimlico Race Course undergoes a massive rebuild, the Preakness Stakes (G1), the second leg of the Triple Crown, will be held at Laurel Park on May 16.
It will be the first time in 151 editions of the Preakness that the race will be at Laurel, 28 miles south of Pimlico in Baltimore.
The race will be contested at the traditional 1 3/16 miles distance. The Preakness Stakes is scheduled to return to Pimlico in 2027, and the track at Laurel will be closed.
For the third straight year, the 2026 Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown, will be run at New York’s upstate Saratoga Race Course. And again, the Belmont Stakes distance will be 1 ¼ miles for the third year in a row rather than the traditional 1 ½ miles due to the configuration of the Saratoga course.
The massive rebuild of Belmont Park is scheduled for completion sometime in late 2026, with an expected opening in the fall of 2026.
While the 43rd Breeders’ Cup is set for Keeneland on Oct. 30-31, the 2027 edition was awarded to Belmont Park (Oct. 29-30, 2027)
The 55th Eclipse Awards are Jan. 22 at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida.
Champions are determined by voting by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), the Daily Racing Form, National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) member racing officials, and Equibase field personnel.
The awards honor champions in multiple equine divisions and human categories. The event takes place two days before the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park, featuring the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1).
Internationally, the 2026 racing schedule features the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 14, the $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on March 28.
Also, the Royal Ascot meet at Ascot Racecourse runs from June 16-20. The Prix l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) at Longchamp in Paris is in early October. The Melbourne Cup (G1) is Nov. 3.
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
