Ireland will host a first ever Good Friday race meet on April third, 2026.
The new Good Friday race day will be introduced on a two-year trial basis. It, will see the Guineas meeting switch to two days.
In a statement Horse Racing Ireland said; “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.
Jonathan Mullin, HRI’s Director of Racing, added; “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”.
Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) today published 391 fixtures as part of the 2026 fixture list.
Thurles racecourse question marks continue
The flat season will see an enhanced programme of Sunday fixtures, starting on May 3. The 2026 fixture list includes a condensed National Hunt season at Thurles racecourse to allow for more prudent ground preparation.
Thus, moving one fixture from mid-March into late January, and two fixtures in October to November and December.
Fixtures at Thurles post March 2026 have been labelled ‘TBC’ (To Be Confirmed) until the future of Thurles is resolved.
11 fixtures are set for Tipperary from April to October. However, once the all-weather project at the venue proceeds, some or all of those fixtures will need to be reallocated. A revised fixture list to account for those changes is available here.
Tipperary’s 2026 fixtures remain subject to change (‘STC’ on fixture list). 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.
