The Flat season has already thrown up plenty of drama so far, but Ascot’s conclusion means that attention is now shifting to the next big British festival. And that means eyes are firmly on the July Festival.
The three days at Newmarket, the HQ of British Flat racing, are often considered to feature some of the best sprinters on offer. Many will no doubt be keeping abreast of the latestUK and Irish horse racing news as they weigh up potential runners to back this year.
Londoners might also be tempted to make the journey to Suffolk, either up the M11 or by train. For those considering a day at the races this summer, here’s everything you need to know about the festival.
When does the 2026 July Festival take place?
The 2026 July Festival is set to kick off on Thursday 9th July with Ladies’ Day. The opening day is all about style and celebrating women at the races, with prizes to be won for the best-dressed attendees.
Friday 10th July is Festival Friday, where the spotlight is on the fillies, but it is seen as the precursor to the festival’s flagship event, set for Saturday 11th July. July Cup Day, as the name suggests, is when the famous Group 1 race takes place, bringing the curtain down on three days of excitement on the track.
Where does the July Festival take place?
While Newmarket’s Rowley Mile Course is home to two of Great Britain’s five Classics – the 1,000 Guineas and the 2,000 Guineas – the July Festival takes place on the July Course.
Also known as the Summer Course, it is a wide track that allows for large fields of competitive racing. It is two miles and a furlong in length, with the first part sharing the Cesarewitch Course. At the halfway mark, runners hit a right-handed bend that leads into the famous straight Bunbury Mile.
After undulating for three-quarters of a mile, the track drops downhill for a furlong before a stiff, punishing climb to the finish line. This final uphill stretch can often expose runners who have gone too hard in the earlier stages of the race, making energy conservation integral so that riders can finish strongly.
What are the biggest races at the July Festival?
The action at Newmarket gets underway with the Bahrain Trophy, as the one-mile-five-furlong distance tests three-year-olds who might later go on to target wins at the St Leger. But the main event of Ladies Day is the Group 2 Princess of Wales’s Stakes. First run in 1894, the one-mile-four-furlong race is open to horses aged three years or older, but typically favours younger runners, with four-year-olds making up seven of the last ten winners.
For Festival Friday, the first big event is set to be the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes, a six-furlong sprint reserved for two-year-old fillies that sometimes earmarks potential contenders for the 1,000 Guineas. That is then followed by the Falmouth Stakes, open to fillies and mares who are three or older. The Group 1 race typically crowns a new winner each year, with just Sonic Lady (1986 and 1987) and Soviet Song (2004 and 2005) winning the one-mile race twice.
On the final day, it is impossible to look beyond the July Cup as the one to watch. Often used to earmark the best sprinter in Europe, the six-furlong race has become one of the country’s most prestigious and richest races since it was first run in 1876. After No Half Measures’ win in 2025, the Karl Burke-trained Venetian Sun is the ante-post favourite this year, having recently won the Commonwealth Cup at Ascot.
