The first day of winter (on the calendar) is December 21st.
As daylight gets shorter and nights get colder a season of change takes place in horse racing as well.
Horseplayers see the transition on several racing circuits around the country as many high-profile race-meets come to an end just as new ones are ready to get started.
Here is what’s happening in horse racing with Thanksgiving approaching as the calendar gets ready to flip to December.
AQUEDUCT: Aqueduct’s Fall meet runs through December 14th then takes an 11-day holiday break from December 15th-25th. Racing then resumes for a week, and the fall season will wrap up on December 28th. New York’s biggest weekend of fall racing is Saturday, December 6th with six Stakes races featuring the Cigar Mile. That day’s supporting card includes five Stakes topped by two important races for 2-year-olds, the Remsen, and the Demoiselle Stakes. The Remsen and Demoiselle are qualifying points races for next spring’s Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, respectively.
CHURCHILL DOWNS: The Churchill Downs fall meet comes to an end on November 30th, and closing weekend have some high-profile Stakes races every day of Thanksgiving weekend- including Saturday’s Derby prep, the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes as well as the Golden Rod Stakes, which is a Kentucky Oaks prep race.
TAMPA BAY DOWNS: Tampa Bay Downs began its special 100th anniversary season of racing on November 19th and will host 90 days of live racing until May 3rd. Racing for 2025-26 starts out on a mostly Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday basis, with Sundays being added beginning on December 21st. The meet’s signature race and main Kentucky Derby prep, the Tampa Bay Derby will be run on Saturday, March 7th.
FAIR GROUNDS: Fair Grounds’ 2025-26 race meet kicked off on November 20th in what will be the historic track’s 154th racing season. The 70-raceday season will continue until closing day March 22nd. The highlight day of the meet comes on March 21 with the running of the $1 million dollar Louisiana Derby, which headlines a card loaded with eight Stakes races. In all, the New Orleans-area track will host 56 stakes this season worth a total of $8.65 million.
GULFSTREAM PARK: The Gulfstream Park winter Championship Meet featuring many of the top trainers and jockeys from the summer New York racing circuit seems to start earlier each year and this year opening day is set for Thanksgiving, November 27th. The first portion of the season will run on a four-day a week schedule Thursdays through Sundays, with Wednesdays being added starting on January 7th for five days of racing weekly through the end of the Championship Meet on March 29th. A couple of Gulfstream’s biggest days will be Pegasus World Cup Day, a day of 10 Stakes races on January 24th, and the Florida Derby on March 28th.
OAKLAWN PARK: The 2025-26 Oaklawn Park racing season begins December 12th and will open on mostly a four-day-a-week calendar up through Kentucky Derby Day on May 2nd with a new, nearly four-week break scheduled from January 5th-29th. The 64-raceday dirt-track-only season will feature some of the most prominent and lucrative races on the road to the Kentucky Derby with a 3-year-old stakes schedule that includes the $1 million-dollar Southwest Stakes on January 31st and the $1 million Rebel Stakes on March 1st leading into the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby on March 28th.
Winter is upon us, but May will be here before you know it. So, keep on building bank.
