Dublin Racing Festival 2026: Dates, how to watch on TV, trainers and jockeys to watch 

2026 is well underway and with it comes the running of one of Ireland’s biggest National Hunt meetings – the Dublin Racing Festival.

Held over two days at the end of January, this thrilling event sees elite yards go head-to-head in 15 races, eight of which are Grade One contests. 

Feature races include the Irish Champion Hurdle and Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup, featuring horses that are almost certain to make the trip over the Irish Sea in March, to line up at the Cheltenham Festival. 

With star quality and unmissable racing assured, here is everything that you need to know as racing fans turn their attention to Leopardstown racecourse. 

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When is the Dublin Racing Festival?

Saturday, January 31 kicks off the two-day event, playing host to a seven-race card that is headlined by the running of the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup. 

Due off at 3:30pm, it is the fifth of seven races on the card – which is opened by the (Grade One) Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle. 

They make up two of the four Grade One races on the opening day of the festival, whilst two Listed events and one Grade Two race also feature. 

The second and final day of the meeting stages the other four Grade Ones that are held at the event, with the headlining race the Irish Champion Hurdle – due off at 3:20pm. 

It is the highlight of an eight-race card that also features two Listed races, as well as a Grade Two and Grade Three race. 

Trainers to watch 

Gordon Elliott leads the Irish Trainers’ Championship at the moment, having accumulated just over 3million euros in prize money this season. 

He has had 132 winners from 770 runners and is currently operating at a 19% strike rate over the last two weeks. 

Elliott’s stable enjoy Leopardstown too; he has had more winners than any other trainer at the course so far this season, whilst he places second for course wins over the last five seasons and third for all-time winners. 

He has recorded a 27% course win rate this season, though it will come as no surprise that the man to beat him in both of those latter statistics is Willie Mullins. 

Last season’s Champion Trainer trails Elliott by almost 1million euros in the Irish Trainers’ Championship, but he is one of the most in form trainers in racing at the moment, operating at 33% win rate from his last 18 runners – nine of them placed. 

Mullins’ 9% Leopardstown strike rate so far this season isn’t brilliant and he has trained nine fewer course winners than Elliott so far this season, despite having only one fewer runner. 

However, he is the course’s leading trainer of all time, recording a 19% win rate from over 1700 runners, dwarfing Elliott’s 11% from almost 1,000 runners. 

Gavin Cromwell, Henry De Bromhead and Joseph Patrick O’Brien complete the top five Leopardstown trainers over the last five seasons. 

The former pair record less than flattering win percentages of 8% and 7%, whilst O’Brien’s 15% betters Elliott’s strike rate, though this comes from a much larger sample size. 

De Bromhead and Cromwell complete the top four in the Irish Trainers’ Championship so far this season, with 1million euros separating Mullins from the former and around 400,000 euros between the aforementioned pair. 

Jockeys to watch 

Paul Townend is the ever-present jockey to sit in the Mullins saddle, with the pair a lethal combination across the UK and Ireland. 

He has ridden 42 winners at Leopardstown over the last five seasons, 21 more than anyone else, whilst operating at a 35% course win rate. 

Townend’s two winners from 13 rides at the course this season is bettered by Jack Kennedy’s eight winners from 21 runners. 

Kennedy boasts a 35% Leopardstown win rate so far this season, but places second to Townend for course winners over the last five seasons. 

Both of them trail Darragh O’Keeffe in this season’s’ Irish Jockeys’ Championship, though it should be said that he has had 160 more rides than Kennedy and over 300 more than Townend. 

Other jockeys to note are Mark Walsh and Patrick Mullins, both of whom record respectable course win rates. 

The former – despite a poor run of form – still remains a jockey to keep on side at Leopardstown, with his 18% win rate from the last five seasons speaking volumes, whilst the latter has seen 34% of his course rides win over the same time period. 

Sam Ewing is another jockey to watch, as are Danny Mullins and Donagh Meyler – all three of whom are in decent form this season. 

How to watch the 2026 Dublin Racing Festival?

Racing TV subscribers can watch all the racing live and exclusive on Sky channel 424, whilst terrestrial programming will see the feature races screened on ITV.

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