Founder & Editor · Last reviewed 2026-07-08
For one weekend in late June, the great flat plain of Kildare stops being a training ground and becomes a stage. The Curragh sits on the Curragh Plains near Newbridge, roughly 30 miles south-west of Dublin, and for most of the year it is the quiet engine room of Irish flat racing: around 1,500 acres of training grounds, with more than 70 miles of turf gallops, peat strips and all-weather surfaces where much of the next generation of Classic horses is made. The Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby Festival is the moment all of that work is put on show.
The festival is built around one race. The Irish Derby, run over a mile and a half for three-year-old colts and fillies, was established in 1866 and has been won by some of the most important horses in the sport's history: Nijinsky in 1970, Shergar in 1981, Galileo in 2001. Around it the Curragh stacks a card of supporting talent, most notably the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes for fillies and mares the day before. It is three days of high-class racing on a course often described as one of the fairest in the world, a right-handed horseshoe of about two miles with a galloping, slightly uphill three-furlong finish that rewards a strong, genuine Classic horse and gives little away.
This guide covers what you need to know to follow the festival or to attend it: the dates and the venue, the Irish Derby itself and the records that surround it, the supporting Group 1s, the style and atmosphere of the meeting, and how it fits into the Curragh's wider Classic calendar across the season. A note on the betting throughout: the figures here are factual, not tips. The Irish Derby is a race favourites often win, but backing favourites does not turn a profit over time, and nothing on this page is a recommendation to have a bet. The aim is to help you understand the meeting, not to beat it.
This guide covers when and where the festival runs, the Irish Derby itself, the supporting Group 1s, the atmosphere and enclosures, the wider Classic calendar at the Curragh, going to the festival, and answers to some common questions.
When and where: the 2026 Derby Festival
The Irish Derby Festival is staged on the Curragh Plains, near Newbridge in Co. Kildare, in the Republic of Ireland. The course lies roughly 50 km, about 30 miles, south-west of Dublin, on a wide expanse of common land that has been associated with horses for centuries. The name itself comes from the Irish Cuirreach, meaning "place of the running horse".
In 2026 the festival runs across three days, from Friday 26 to Sunday 28 June. The shape of the weekend is consistent from year to year:
| Day | Date (2026) | Headline |
|---|---|---|
| Friday | 26 June | Festival opening, the Corinthian Challenge in aid of the Irish Injured Jockeys Fund, evening music |
| Saturday | 27 June | Paddy Power Pretty Polly Stakes Day, a Group 1 for fillies and mares, plus the Anglesey Stakes and Airlie Stud Stakes |
| Sunday | 28 June | The Irish Derby, off at 16:10, with supporting handicaps and the Listed Jebel Ali Dash Stakes |
The Curragh is a flat-racing course only. There are no hurdles or fences anywhere on the property, and the racing is run entirely on turf. The track is a right-handed horseshoe of approximately two miles, with a straight run-in of three furlongs that rises slightly to a testing uphill finish. A separate straight course feeds into that home straight and is used for the sprints, with starts at five, six and seven furlongs and a mile. There are in fact two round courses, the inner Derby Course and the outer Plate Course, which share the same winning post and run-in; the Derby itself is run on the inner track, where a low draw can be an advantage over the longer distances.
Going to print, the festival falls at a time of year when quick summer ground is typical, with good to good-to-firm the usual description, though the ground can ride differently on the straight course than on the round course. The Curragh's irrigation system was upgraded in 2020, giving the course more control over the going across a meeting. The 2026 Derby was run on good ground.
The Irish Derby: the centrepiece
The Irish Derby is the showpiece of the festival and the oldest of the five Irish Classics. First run in 1866, it was created by the 3rd Earl of Howth, the 3rd Marquess of Drogheda and the 3rd Earl of Charlemont. It is a Group 1 contest for three-year-old colts and fillies over 1 mile 4 furlongs, sponsored by Dubai Duty Free, and it is the Irish counterpart to the Epsom Derby, run a few weeks earlier. In 2026 it carried prize money of €1,250,000, with €725,000 to the winner, which makes it the richest race the Curragh stages.
A true test of a Classic horse
The trip and the track make it a genuine examination. The Curragh is a broad, galloping, right-handed horseshoe with no sharp bends, and the Derby distance asks a three-year-old to settle through a long, sweeping circuit before facing a run-in of around three furlongs that rises slightly uphill. That finish rewards stamina and a strong cruising speed rather than a quick turn of foot off a tight bend. Because the race comes a few weeks after Epsom, it often draws horses stepping up from the English Classic trials and the Epsom Derby field itself, alongside the best home-trained middle-distance three-year-olds.
The roll of honour
The list of winners reads like a history of European flat racing. Orby completed the first Epsom-Curragh double in 1907. Then come Ballymoss in 1957, Santa Claus in 1964, Nijinsky in 1970, Shirley Heights in 1978, Troy in 1979, Shergar for the Aga Khan in 1981, Generous in 1991, Montjeu in 1999, Sinndar in 2000 and Galileo in 2001, a horse who went on to become one of the most influential sires in the world. Camelot won in 2012 and Australia in 2014.
In recent seasons the race has been dominated by Ballydoyle. Aidan O'Brien leads all trainers with 18 wins after 2026, including four in a row from 2023 to 2026 and an earlier run of seven straight from 2006. Ryan Moore has ridden the last four winners. The 2026 running, won by Benvenuto Cellini at 7/4 favourite, led home an O'Brien 1-2-3, the ninth time he has saddled the first three in the race.
Recent winners
| Year | Winner | Trainer / Jockey | SP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Benvenuto Cellini | A O'Brien / R Moore | 7/4f |
| 2025 | Lambourn | A O'Brien / R Moore | 8/13f |
| 2024 | Los Angeles | A O'Brien / R Moore | 13/8 |
| 2023 | Auguste Rodin | A O'Brien / R Moore | 4/11f |
| 2022 | Westover | R Beckett / C Keane | 11/8jf |
| 2021 | Hurricane Lane | C Appleby / W Buick | 4/1 |
| 2020 | Santiago | A O'Brien / S Heffernan | 2/1f |
Two patterns are worth knowing if you follow the race closely, though neither is a tip. No filly has won the Irish Derby in 20 years, and all of the last 10 winners had four or more prior runs on the flat. Favourites are usually well backed and have a strong record, but they do not always oblige: Sovereign won at 33/1 in 2019. Over a long run, betting blindly on the market leader loses money, here as everywhere, a point covered more fully in our betting guide for the Curragh.
The supporting Group 1s
The Irish Derby may headline the meeting, but it is not the only top-flight race on the card. The festival's second clear focal point comes a day earlier, on the Saturday, with the Pretty Polly Stakes.
The Pretty Polly Stakes
The Pretty Polly is a Group 1 over 1 mile 2 furlongs for fillies and mares aged three and upwards, sponsored by Paddy Power and run on Pretty Polly Day. It has held Group 1 status since 2004 and carried €300,000 in prize money in 2025. The race is named after the brilliant filly Pretty Polly, who was foaled in 1901; she was Irish-bred, at Eyrefield Lodge Stud in Co. Kildare, though there is no record of her racing at the Curragh, so the race honours her name rather than any local performance.
It has become one of the better middle-distance races for older fillies and mares in Europe. Bluestocking won it in 2024 before going on to take the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe later that year, a fair measure of the form's strength. Whirl took the 2025 running for Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore, and the great mare Magical won it in 2020. Earlier winners include Alexander Goldrun, who won twice in 2005 and 2006, Peeping Fawn in 2007, Misty For Me in 2011 and Minding in 2016.
Strength in depth across the weekend
This concentration of quality fits the Curragh's wider role. As the home of Irish flat racing, the course stages 11 Group 1 races a year, more than any other Irish track, and the Derby festival is where two of them are gathered onto consecutive days. Around those features the card carries further pattern races: Pretty Polly Day also includes the Group 2 Airlie Stud Stakes for two-year-old fillies and the Group 3 Anglesey Stakes for juveniles, while Derby Sunday is filled out with competitive handicaps and the Listed Jebel Ali Dash over the minimum trip. For the spectator it means three days with genuine strength in depth, top-level flat racing across a range of distances and age groups, not a single feature surrounded by ordinary fare.
Atmosphere, style and enclosures
The Curragh's modern home is the Aga Khan Stand, the centrepiece of a redevelopment that reopened the course in 2019. Designed by the architects Grimshaw, the stand rises over four levels beneath a dramatic 7,000 square metre cantilevered roof and caters for up to around 6,000 people, with the overall grandstand capacity cited at 13,000 and the wider grounds able to hold a flux of up to 30,000. It was officially opened on 26 May 2019 by the then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and the Aga Khan during that year's Guineas weekend. The historic Queen's Room, first built in 1853 and once a hosting place for Queen Victoria, was dismantled and reassembled to overlook the new parade ring.
Where to stand and what to do
The best of the atmosphere is found in two places: at the rail near the finish, where the uphill run-in brings the field towards you, and in the parade ring, where the anticipation builds before each race and where the Tattersalls Champagne Bar overlooks proceedings. The lower levels of the stand hold a café, a food court, bars and Tote facilities, with restaurants and hospitality suites on the upper floors. Named bars around the course include the Guineas Bar on the ground floor of Champions Hall, the Derby Bar and the Lilywhites Lounge, which has views across the track. Orby's by Lucy, an artisan café at the racecourse entrance, is open seven days a week.
Style and entertainment
The Derby Festival has a strong social side to go with the racing, and our guide to a day at the Curragh covers the practicalities in more detail. Saturday's Pretty Polly Day carries The K Club Most Stylish Racegoer competition, one of the season's set-piece style awards. The festival also leans on live music: in 2026 the opening Friday featured The Whistlin' Donkeys, and The Tumbling Paddies closed the meeting on Derby Sunday. There is no universally enforced dress code, but smart and stylish attire is encouraged on the feature days, in keeping with the style competitions.
Crowds at the Curragh have drawn comment over the years, with the venue's large capacity sometimes outstripping attendance. The 2026 festival drew a three-day total of 24,651, with 11,323 of those on Derby Sunday, a healthy turnout for the meeting's biggest day.
The wider Classic calendar at the Curragh
The Irish Derby Festival is one chapter in a longer Classic story, and the whole of it is written at the Curragh. The course is the only one in Ireland to stage all five Irish Classics, and the Derby weekend sits in the middle of that sequence, between the spring Guineas and the autumn championship.
May: the Guineas Festival
The Classic action begins in late May with the Tattersalls Irish Guineas Festival. In 2026 this is a two-day fixture, on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 May, the change to two days a consequence of the Curragh being awarded Ireland's first-ever Good Friday meeting on a two-year trial. Saturday stages the Irish 2,000 Guineas, won in 2026 by Gstaad for Aidan O'Brien; Sunday brings the Irish 1,000 Guineas, taken in 2026 by Precise, also for O'Brien, alongside the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup for older horses. Both Guineas are run over a mile for three-year-olds, the colts' and the fillies' Classics that open the campaign. The weekend also hosts the first style competition of the season, the Ashford Castle Style Icon Award.
July: the Irish Oaks
After the Derby comes the Juddmonte Irish Oaks in July, a Group 1 over 1 mile 4 furlongs for three-year-old fillies, effectively the fillies' equivalent of the Derby trip. Minnie Hauk won the 2025 running for Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore, completing the Epsom-Irish Oaks double on her way to also landing the Yorkshire Oaks. The Oaks weekend in late July also features the Group 2 Curragh Cup and the Group 2 Sapphire Stakes.
September: the Champions Festival
The season's final Classic falls in September. The Curragh hosts day two of the Irish Champions Festival, on Sunday 13 September in 2026, with day one staged at Leopardstown. The Curragh card alone carries four Group 1s and close to €2.5m in prize money: the Irish St Leger, the fifth and final Irish Classic, run over 1m6f and open to older horses; the Moyglare Stud Stakes for two-year-old fillies; the Vincent O'Brien National Stakes for juveniles, a leading Classic trial; and the Flying Five Stakes over the minimum five furlongs.
Seen together, the Curragh's calendar runs from the mile Guineas in May, through the mile-and-a-half Derby and Oaks in midsummer, to the staying St Leger in autumn: a complete Classic programme at a single track.
Going to the festival
The Curragh sits on the open plain near Newbridge and Kildare town, roughly 50 km, about 30 miles, south-west of Dublin. The Eircode is R56 RR67.
Getting there
By road, the simplest route from Dublin is the M50 to Exit 9, then the N7 southbound and the M7 to Exit 12. There is free car parking on site, with accessible car parks colour-coded orange, green and blue. By rail, mainline trains run from Heuston Station in Dublin, and from Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford, to Kildare town, with services also reaching Newbridge. A free shuttle bus, run by Manguard Plus, operates on race days from Kildare station and town square and from Newbridge station and Main Street, timed to Irish Rail arrivals; the Curragh also lays on complimentary shuttle buses from Newbridge, Kildare and Naas for the festival. By bus, Expressway runs services from Dublin city centre on major race days. Dublin Airport is around 50 minutes away.
Tickets
For 2026 the Curragh offered a new Irish Derby Weekend Ticket at €70 covering all three days. Under-18s go free with a paying adult, with the exception of a €15 charge for 15 to 18-year-olds on Derby Sunday. For comparison, general admission to a Classic meeting is typically around €20 for adults, €10 concessions, with under-16s free, while hospitality packages start from about €60 per person. It pays to book the feature days in advance.
Going and runner numbers
A word on the racing conditions, which shape a day more than anything. The festival falls in late June, when quicker summer ground is typical, and good to good-to-firm is the usual description, with the ground softening later in the season. The 2026 Derby was run on good. Fields swell for the big handicaps that support the Group 1 features over the weekend.
Making a day of it
Kildare rewards a longer stay. Close to the course are the Irish National Stud and Japanese Gardens at Tully, the Kildare Village designer outlet and Newbridge Silverware. Racegoers often base themselves at Lawlor's Hotel in Naas or the Keadeen Hotel in Newbridge, with luxury on hand at The K Club in Straffan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Share this article
More about this racecourse
All curragh guides
The History of the Curragh
Racing on the Curragh plain from 1727, the Irish Derby from 1866, the Curragh of Kildare Act 1868, the Classics, the great horses and the 2019 redevelopment.
Read moreThe Irish Derby: Race Guide
A full guide to the Irish Derby at the Curragh: the Group 1, its history from 1866, its great winners and its place in the Classic season.
Read moreA Day at the Curragh: Visitor Guide
How to plan a day at the Curragh: getting there, the Aga Khan Stand, food and bars, the best festivals, what to wear and first-visit tips.
Read moreResearch the field with the AI Race Predictor
Our model publishes calibrated win-probability estimates for UK races — a second opinion to understand a race, not tips. It's open about its record: it doesn't beat the market, and we show exactly how it does.
Gamble Responsibly
Gambling should be entertaining and not seen as a way to make money. Never bet more than you can afford to lose. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help and support is available.