Newmarket: 2026 Spring Meeting Preview

All eyes will be on the historic Newmarket Racecourse for the 2026 edition of the Spring Meeting, which gets underway on Friday, 15th May 2026.

The iconic and historic Newmarket Racecourse is one of the oldest horse racing venues in the country, and it was the host of the first organised race that had an official set of rules – the Newmarket Town Plate – a race that still takes place 360 years after it was first held all the way back in October 1666.

The racecourse has, of course, gone on to host a plethora of very popular race meetings over the years, one of which is the Spring Meeting, which is set to return for its 2026 renewal on Friday, 15th May 2026. It will take place over three days, with all the enthralling action set to come to an end in the afternoon of Saturday, 16th May 2026.

The Spring Meeting at Newmarket has been taking place since the mid-18th Century, and is amongst the oldest race meetings in the country.

There will be a total of 20 races over these three days, with 6 on the opening day on Friday, and 7 on both Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

Here, we are going to be taking a look ahead at all three afternoons of intense and competitive racing that are set to take place on the Rowley Mile. There is set to be an incredible atmosphere, with a vast number of horse racing fans attending throughout the 2026 renewal of this historic race meeting at an even more iconic racecourse.

Day One – Friday 15th May 2026

We will begin with the opening day of action on the afternoon of Friday 15th May 2026, with the first of the six races taking place being the latest running of the The Apprentice Handicap Stakes, which gets underway at 13:57pm.

In the most recent edition of this particular race back in 2025, the most recent winner of this race is Cooperation, who was ridden to victory last year by Jockey Mason Paetal. Paetal managed to fend off some stern competition from the likes of Stratocracy and Onemorenomore, who both finished in second and third place respectively on this occasion.

We will now move on to the second race of the day, which will be the 2026 The Novice Stakes, which is set to take place at 14:32pm on Friday afternoon. Last year’s pre-race favourite was Noble Horizon, who finished in third place in the end, behind Wicked, who finished second. And so, it was Bedouin Prince, ridden by Jockey Dougie Costello, who won the race overall in the end.

It will be the Handicap Stakes that takes place next, with this being the third of the seven races taking place on the Rowley Mile on Friday afternoon. Jamie Spencer’s French Haven came out on top with the win in the end in the 2025 iteration, whilst it was Renesmee and Sixteen One who came in third. The pre-race favourite, Hot Like Me, finished down in 4th place.

Next up is race four, which is going to be the Juddmonte EBF Restricted Novice Stakes, which were won most recently last year by the pre-race favourite Logi Bear, ridden by Jockey Jamie Spencer. Somebody came as the runner-up in second place, whilst it was Caitrinho who came home in third place.

The fifth race of the first day of the 2026 Spring Meeting on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket is the Trades People Handicap Stakes. The winner of the 2025 race was Fouroneohfever had been the pre-race favourite, only to finish third, whilst Lavender Hill Mob came out on top as the winner, with Claymore coming in second place as the runner-up.

Then comes the sixth race of the opening day, which is set to be the latest running of the Handicap Stakes, taking place on Friday afternoon. My Mate Kev came across the line as the winner with Fred Daly and Chris Dwyer as Jockey and Trainer, respectively. The pre-race favourite, Dapper Guest, finished down in 7th place in last year’s race.

We will now be moving on to looking at the action that is set to take place on the afternoon of Saturday 16th May 2026, where we will see a grand total of seven races taking place in total.

Day Two – Saturday 16th May 2026

The intense and exciting action of the Newmarket Spring Meeting continues on day two, which is to take place on the afternoon on Saturday 16th May 2026, with the racing getting underway with the Handicap Stakes. The winner last year was Jamie Spencer on board Arabian Leopard, followed by runner-up and pre-race favourite Fondo Blanco as well as David Egan’s Spirit Of Leros, who came in third place.

Race Two on day two is going to be the latest running of the JCB Handicap Stakes, with the most recent version of this race last year being won by Jamie Spencer on board Arabian Leopard, followed by runner-up and pre-race favourite Fondo Blanco as well as David Egan’s Spirit Of Leros, who came in third place.

We have now arrived at the third race of the Saturday afternoon, which is set to be the Bet £10 Get £40 with BetMGM Handicap Stakes. In this race last year, the pre-race favourite Classic Encounter missed out on victory with a third place finish, just behind the runner-up Mythical Guest and the race winner Royal Velvet, ridden to the victory by Jockey Cieren Fallon.

The Tattersalls £40,000 Fillies’ Novice Stakes comes next as the fourth race of the day, and the most recent winner of this race was Billy Loughnane on board Dance To The Music who came home in first place, whilst it was Eskimo Pie and Daretobedifferent who came in second and third place respectively. Meanwhile, the pre-race favourite Lyrics Of Life came down in 5th place in the end.

After that comes the Darley EBF Novice Stakes, which last year saw Minhad finish first, with Pole Star and Bahadur coming in second and third place. The favourite, Gold Cup Day, came down in 5th place overall.

The sixth and penultimate race of the second day of action is the Win £1m with BetMGM Golden Goals Handicap, last year it was an Andrew Balding trained Best Adventure with jockey Shane Foley on board who crossed the line. It was Richard Kingscote’s Venezuelan who came in second, whilst Ethan Jones’ Squires Treaty had to settle for what was a 3rd place finish.

Finally, we come to the seventh and final race of the day, which is going to be the 2026 Suffolk Chamber of Commerce and USVF Handicap Stakes.

The race in 2025 was won by Olivia Haines on board a Stuart Williams-trained Rebel Path, followed by runner-up Fiscal Policy and by Royal Musketeer, ridden by Jockey Ray Dawson, who came in third place overall.

We will now look ahead at all of the enthralling action to come across all seven races of the third day of the 2026 Spring Meeting at Newmarket, which is set to take place throughout the afternoon of Sunday, 17th May 2026.

Day Three – Sunday 17th May 2026

The racing on the third and final day of the 2026 Spring Meeting is set to be the Enter ITV7 For Free British EBF Novice Stakes. The winner in 2025 was the pre-race favourite Treanmor, ridden by William Buick and trained by Charlie Appleby, who came out on top as the winner, followed by runner-up Vlad and Start Me Up, who came in third place.

Next up on day three is the Sky Bet Acca Freeze Handicap Stakes, which is a 5-furlong race that is set to get underway on Sunday afternoon.

The most recent winner of this race is Spring Is Sprung, followed by Merrimack as the runner-up, whilst Spirit Of Applause had to settle for what was a third-place finish in the end.

Then comes the third of the seven races on Sunday, which is going to be the Sky Bet Extra Places Handicap Stakes, which is set to be run over the distance of seven furlongs. Last year, it was Cieren Fallon’s Be Frank that came away as the winner in the end, whilst it was Lunario and Flag Of St George, ridden by Jack Dace and Billy Loughnane, who had to settle for second and third place finishes.

Race four is set to be the Sky Bet Build A Bet Handicap Stakes. It was won last year by the Michael Ball-trained Liari, who came out on top, with Campaign Trail and Artisan Dancer settling for second and third place finishes, respectively.

The third-to-last race will then be taking place, which is set to be the 2026 running of the Sky Bet Proud To Support Ror Handicap. In the most recent version of this race, it was pre-race favourite Sixtygeesbaby who came down in 4th, with Dark Cloud Rising, ridden by Tom Marquand, finishing in third place. Josephine Gordon’s American Style was the horse to finish in second place, whilst it was Ray Dawson, on board Marchogion, who was the winner of this race in the end.

Race Six will then arrive in the form of the Sky Bet For The Fans Handicap, won last year by the pre-race favourite Mutaawid, who was ridden to victory by Jim Crowley, whilst having also been trained by the likes of John & Thady Gosden. It was Sean Levey on board Bopedro who came in second place, whilst it was Richard Kingscote’s Andaleep who came in third.

We now move on to the seventh and final race of day three, which is also, of course, the final race of the 2026 Newmarket Spring Meeting, which is going to be the Sky Bet Club Fillies’ Handicap. In the most recent running of this race back in 2025, it was Hector Crouch, who was able to lead Ryka to victory ahead of Saariselka and Lady Manzor, who filled in the final two spots in the top three with a 2nd and 3rd place finishing, respectively, for them both in the end. These horses were ridden by Oisin Murphy and Jack Dace, respectively.

Excitement is building ahead of the enthralling action to come in the 2026 Spring Meeting at the famous and historic Newmarket Racecourse, which is set to take place at this historic venue over the course of three days from Friday, 15th May to Sunday, 17th May 2026. The atmosphere promises to be electric, with horse racing fans expected to attend in their thousands.

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