The Breeders' Cup is Returning to Keeneland
Keeneland was once thought to be an unsuitable host for the Breeders’ Cup. Now, the World Championships can’t get enough of the Central Kentucky race track.
The surf will meet the turf near San Diego at Del Mar for this fall’s Breeders’ Cup. Today, they announced the Horse Racing World Championships will return to Keeneland in 2026, followed by Belmont Park in 2027. It will be one of the first major events at the NYRA track after undergoing multi-year, $500 million renovations.
There’s no denying the beauty of Keeneland Racecourse, however, what makes it so charming is its size. This spring, Keeneland had an average daily attendance of 16,000 people. The Breeders’ Cup brings a lot more people than that. The track didn’t need to accommodate a Kentucky Derby-sized crowd of 150,000, but there were reservations leading into the first Breeders’ Cup back in 2015. It was a smash hit.
More than 50,100 horse racing fans were on hand to watch American Pharoah become the first horse to ever follow up a Triple Crown victory with a win in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He’s the only horse to ever complete the Grand Slam.
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The event was such a hit, Keeneland got it back in 2020. With Covid keeping fans at home, they got to take another swing at it in 2022. Almost 46,000 people were in the stands to see Flightline complete his undefeated career.
The Breeders’ Cup has a track record of producing the best of the best when it calls Keeneland home. That means we’re in store for another epic weekend of horse racing in Lexington in November of 2026.
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