What’s running this month: October 2026
Five events carry the season from the Arc to the first jumps of the National Hunt calendar.
This is the second edition of our monthly rundown, a quick guide to the fixtures worth planning around. Links to full previews and results are added here as the month unfolds.
Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, 3 to 4 October
Arc weekend runs across Saturday and Sunday at ParisLongchamp, with the Arc itself on Sunday 4 October. RacingBetter’s full coverage of the weekend is already live, including previews of Britain’s leading raiders.
Dubai Future Champions Festival, 9 to 10 October
Newmarket’s Rowley Mile hosts two days built around the season’s leading two-year-olds. Friday opens with the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile, and Saturday brings the meeting’s headline event, the Group 1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes over seven furlongs. The Dewhurst has a habit of pointing to future Classic winners, Frankel among them in 2010.
British Champions Day, 17 October
Ascot stages the richest raceday in Britain, worth £4.35 million and closing out the turf Flat season across six races. The QIPCO Champions Stakes remains the showpiece, worth £1.3 million to the winner at 16:05.
Breeders’ Cup, 30 to 31 October
Two days of top-level racing take place in the United States. It closes out the international Flat season alongside Europe’s own autumn finale, with leading European raiders often crossing the Atlantic to test themselves against the best from home soil.
Charlie Hall Chase, 31 October
Wetherby’s Charlie Hall Chase is traditionally treated as the unofficial start of the National Hunt season in Britain. It gives jump racing fans their first real form guide of the winter ahead, often featuring horses stepping up in trip after a summer break, with form here regularly carrying through to the Cheltenham Festival months later.
