Founder & Editor · Last reviewed 2026-08-19
Dublin Racing Festival 2027
The Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown is the biggest midwinter meeting on the Irish jumps calendar: two days in late January or early February that pack in eight Grade 1 races, the most concentrated dose of championship-class National Hunt racing outside the Cheltenham Festival itself. Created in 2018, when HRI merged what had previously been separate Irish Champion Hurdle and Irish Gold Cup weekends into a single fixture, it has quickly become the definitive form guide for Cheltenham seven weeks later.
The festival runs over a Saturday and Sunday, with the eight Grade 1s split evenly across the two days. Day 1 is traditionally built around the Irish Gold Cup, the leading trial for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and the Irish Arkle Novice Chase. Day 2 is built around the Irish Champion Hurdle, Ireland's equivalent of Cheltenham's Champion Hurdle, and the Dublin Chase. Willie Mullins has dominated the meeting since its creation, though Gordon Elliott and Joseph O'Brien have both landed Grade 1s at Leopardstown in recent renewals.
The 2027 Festival opens on Saturday 30 January 2027. Daily racecards, going updates and declared runners are published the morning of each day, and this page updates as each detail is confirmed.
At a glance
- Course: Leopardstown (left-handed, dual-purpose turf, about 1m6f circuit, stiff uphill finish)
- Dates: 2 days (Saturday to Sunday)
- Grade 1 races: 8 across the meeting
- Prize fund: over €2m across the weekend
- Broadcast: Racing TV (full coverage), plus selected races on ITV Racing and RTÉ2
- First run: 2018
Read on for the 2027 day-by-day schedule, the history behind the eight Grade 1s, how to watch and a full raceday guide.
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2027 Festival schedule
2027 Festival schedule
The Dublin Racing Festival runs across two afternoons, Saturday and Sunday, with four Grade 1 races on each card. The scheduled running order, per Leopardstown's own festival programme:
Day 1 (Saturday): Irish Gold Cup Day
- Irish Gold Cup (Grade 1, about 3m, 17 fences): the meeting's championship chase and the season's leading trial for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
- Irish Arkle Novice Chase (Grade 1, about 2m1f): the novice-chasing championship, first run in 1956 and renamed for Arkle after his 1963 win in the race.
- Golden Cygnet Novice Hurdle (Grade 1, 2m6f, registered as the Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle): a staying novice hurdle over the inner track.
- Spring Juvenile Hurdle (Grade 1, 2m, four-year-olds only, registered as the Gannon's City Recovery & Recycling Services Juvenile Hurdle): the season's top Cheltenham Triumph Hurdle trial.
Day 2 (Sunday): Irish Champion Hurdle Day
- Irish Champion Hurdle (Grade 1, 2m): the meeting's championship hurdle, Ireland's equivalent of Cheltenham's Champion Hurdle.
- Dublin Chase (Grade 1, about 2m1f): the top-class two-mile chasing championship, created alongside the festival in 2018.
- Dr P.J. Moriarty Novice Chase (Grade 1, about 2m5f, commonly run as the Ladbrokes Novice Chase): a stiff test for staying novice chasers.
- Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle (Grade 1, about 2m): a top-level novice hurdle, formerly sponsored as the Deloitte Novice Hurdle.
That running order isn't guaranteed. Leopardstown's turf can be badly affected by heavy winter rain: the 2026 renewal was hit hard, with the Saturday Day 1 card abandoned after overnight downpours left the track unraceable, the Irish Gold Cup and Irish Arkle rescheduled to the Monday, and the Sunday Day 2 card going ahead as planned. Check racecourse and going updates in the days before travelling.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Festival start | Saturday 30 January 2027 |
| First race off time | TBA |
| Going | TBA |
| Typical field size | per Grade 1 |
Every day's results, once run, are added to the Dublin Racing Festival results hub.
History and signature races
History and signature races
Leopardstown staged its Irish Champion Hurdle and Irish Gold Cup cards as separate fixtures for decades before Horse Racing Ireland combined them into one weekend in 2018, creating the Dublin Racing Festival. The move concentrated Ireland's midwinter Grade 1 programme into a single unmissable meeting and gave Irish jumps racing a direct answer to the growing weight of Cheltenham's own trials programme.
The signature races
Irish Gold Cup (about 3m, 17 fences): first run in 1987 as the Vincent O'Brien Irish Gold Cup, named for the trainer. Florida Pearl's four wins (1999, 2000, 2001 and 2004, the last as a 12-year-old in his final race) remain the race's most celebrated record. Willie Mullins is the leading trainer with 13 wins. Galopin Des Champs won three in a row (2023 to 2025) before his bid for a fourth was denied by stablemate Fact To File in 2026.
Irish Champion Hurdle (2m): established in 1950 and won in its first running by Hatton's Grace. Istabraq won it four times, Hurricane Fly a record five in a row (2011 to 2015), and State Man three in a row (2023 to 2025) before Gordon Elliott's Brighterdaysahead ended that run with a shock win over stablemate and favourite Lossiemouth in 2026. Willie Mullins is the leading trainer with nine wins.
Irish Arkle Novice Chase (about 2m1f): first run in 1956 as the Milltown Novice Chase, renamed for Arkle after his win in the race in 1963. Willie Mullins leads with 11 wins.
Dublin Chase (about 2m1f): created alongside the festival in 2018 and upgraded to Grade 1 status from its second running. Chacun Pour Soi's three consecutive wins (2020 to 2022) is the modern high point. Willie Mullins has won it eight times.
Willie Mullins's stable has dominated the meeting since its creation, winning six of the eight Grade 1s at both the 2024 and 2025 renewals. That dominance isn't absolute: Gordon Elliott and Joseph O'Brien have both broken through with Grade 1 winners at Leopardstown, and the 2026 Irish Champion Hurdle was one of the festival's biggest shocks to date.
Recent champions
This section is updated after each year's meeting. See the Dublin Racing Festival 2026 results hub for the most recent renewal's winners, starting prices and day-by-day reports.
TV coverage and how to watch
TV coverage and how to watch
The 2027 Dublin Racing Festival is broadcast on Racing TV (full two-day coverage), ITV Racing (selected races, free-to-air UK) and RTÉ2 (selected races, free-to-air Ireland).
Racing TV
Racing TV carries every race across both days, live and uninterrupted, with pre- and post-race analysis. In the UK, Racing TV is on Sky channel 424 and Virgin 536; in Ireland it's on Virgin and Vodafone. Leopardstown is a Racing TV course, not a Sky Sports Racing course.
ITV Racing
ITV showed five races from the 2026 festival for UK viewers, concentrated around the Grade 1 features. Coverage is shown live on ITV1/ITVX and repeated on demand afterwards, free to UK viewers.
RTÉ2
RTÉ2 showed 11 races from the 2026 festival live for Irish viewers, the broadcaster's biggest jumps commitment outside the Leopardstown Christmas Festival and the Irish Champions Festival.
Streaming
Bookmaker streams (for funded account-holders) cover Leopardstown alongside the TV rights-holders. Racing TV's app and website carry the same live feed as the Sky/Virgin channel, plus free race replays after the event.
Off-time reminders
Leopardstown's card usually gets underway early afternoon, with the Grade 1 features spread across the card rather than bunched together. Big-field novice events can take longer than smaller Grade 1s to load, so expect TBA to move by a couple of minutes either way on the day. Heavy going, which is common at this meeting, can also push off-times back.
Raceday at Leopardstown
Raceday at Leopardstown
Getting there
Leopardstown Racecourse is at Foxrock, Dublin 18, D18 C9V6, about 8km south of Dublin city centre. By road, take Exit 15 (J15) off the M50; free shuttle buses run from the car parks on race days. By Luas, the Green Line runs from St Stephen's Green to Sandyford in around 20 minutes, with a short walk or a complimentary shuttle to the course. A shuttle bus also runs from Blackrock DART station on major race days. Aircoach Route 700 connects Dublin Airport with the area in about an hour.
The enclosures
Two main ticket types for the festival: General Admission, giving access to the full enclosure including the lower Grandstand, and Premium Level, a reserved seat on the third floor of the Grandstand with access to the Circle Lounge and its bars. The Grandstand has three floors of bars and restaurants, including the 1888 Restaurant overlooking the parade ring.
On the day
- Gates typically open mid-morning, with the first race in the early afternoon.
- The Grade 1 features are spread across the card, so it's worth checking the day's racecard rather than assuming the big race is last.
- The parade ring gets busy 30 minutes before each Grade 1, and Willie Mullins's runners draw the biggest crowds around the winners' enclosure.
- Leopardstown is one of the driest tracks in Ireland thanks to strong natural drainage, but heavy winter rain can still leave the going soft to heavy, as it did in 2026.
Dress code
Smart casual across all enclosures. There's no strict dress requirement, though the crowd tends to dress up for the big Grade 1 days.
Food and drink
Outlets include the 1888 Restaurant, the Leopardstown Pavilion, the Paddock Food Hall and the Champions Café Bar, alongside the traditional Madigans pub on site. Hospitality packages run from the Pavilion up to private suites.
Betting
Tote facilities and on-course bookmakers operate across the enclosures. Our bookmaker comparison guide covers the online alternatives if you'd rather bet from your phone than queue at the rails.
Sources & verification
Race details, dates, prize money and TV coverage in this piece were cross-checked against:
[Source: cross-referenced as of the lastUpdated date in this article's meta.yaml.]
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