July 2026 Horse Racing: Newmarket, Ascot and Goodwood festival guide
Your 2026 July Horse Racing Festival Guide to three of the biggest summer meetings on the British Flat racing calendar
July is one of the biggest months of the British Flat racing season, with the Newmarket July Festival, Ascot’s King George Weekend and the opening of the Qatar Goodwood Festival all taking place within four weeks.
For racegoers planning their summer, these three July 2026 horse racing courses offer a mix of Group 1 action, elite middle-distance contests, top-class sprinting and some of the most recognisable racecourse settings in Britain.
Here’s everything you need to know, including dates, feature races and what makes each meeting unique.
| Festival | Dates | Feature race | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newmarket July Festival | 9–11 July | July Cup | Newmarket |
| King George Weekend | 24–25 July | King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes | Ascot |
| Qatar Goodwood Festival | 28 July–1 Aug | Sussex Stakes, Goodwood Cup | Goodwood |
When is the Newmarket July Festival 2026?
The Newmarket July Festival takes place from Thursday, July 9, to Saturday July 11, on the July Course at Newmarket. It is one of the key mid-summer meetings in the British Flat racing calendar and combines high-quality racing with a major social occasion across three days.
The highlight of the meeting is the July Cup, which will be run on Saturday. The Jockey Club lists the 2026 July Cup as taking place at 16.35pm, although race times can be subject to change closer to the day.
The festival also features several important supporting races. The meeting is traditionally built around high-class contests such as the Falmouth Stakes, the Princess of Wales’s Stakes and the Superlative Stakes, giving Newmarket a strong balance of sprint, mile and middle-distance interest. For anyone building a July 2026 Racing Festival Guide, Newmarket is the natural starting point.
When is Ascot’s King George Weekend 2026?
Ascot’s King George Weekend takes place on Friday, July 24, and Saturday, July 25, with the meeting headlined by the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes is one of Britain’s most prestigious all-aged middle-distance races. Run over a mile and a half, it often brings together leading three-year-olds and older horses and can shape the second half of the European Flat season. In 2026, the race is set to become Britain’s richest race, with Ascot confirming a £2 million prize fund.
That prize-money increase adds even more significance to an already important race, with many punters comparing the latest markets across leading horse racing betting sites before the meeting.. Winners of the King George often go on to be discussed in the context of major autumn targets, including the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Ascot also offers one of the most polished racecourse experiences in Britain, making King George Weekend one of the standout July 2026 horse racing events for both serious racing fans and casual racegoers.
When is the Qatar Goodwood Festival 2026?
The Qatar Goodwood Festival takes place from Tuesday, July 28, to Saturday, August 1. Although the meeting runs into August, it begins in the final week of July and is one of the major highlights of the British summer racing season.
Known widely as Glorious Goodwood, the five-day meeting is famous for its setting on the Sussex Downs, its relaxed summer atmosphere and its top-class racing. The 2026 festival is headed by three Group 1 races, including the Goodwood Cup, the Sussex Stakes and the Nassau Stakes.
Goodwood offers a very different feel from Newmarket and Ascot. It is as much a social and style event as a racing festival, but the quality on the track remains extremely high. The Goodwood Cup is a major staying race, the Sussex Stakes is one of the most important mile contests of the season, and the Nassau Stakes is a leading race for fillies and mares.
