New date for National Racehorse Week

Great British Racing’s National Racehorse Week has been confirmed to return for the fifth consecutive year.  For 2025, new dates of 23-31 August will be trialled to place the popular event squarely in the school and university holiday period and will include the August bank holiday weekend.  

Traditionally taking place during the second week in September, the new August dates will allow racing to give the event a new focus. In 2024 just under a fifth of open day attendees were under 18 years old, with events across the two weekends booking up well in advance. Shifting the entire event to August will open-up all nine days of National Racehorse Week to families and a younger age demographic, at a time of year where people are looking for interesting and fun activities to engage with.          

  

Gabi Whitfield, Head of Welfare Communications at Great British Racing, commented: “For the past four years racing has provided an incredible opportunity for people to get close to, and be inspired by, the Thoroughbred at the heart of the sport. And we see first-hand the positive impact this has on people’s opinion of welfare in racing. No other top-tier sport throws open its doors to the public for free the way we do.  

 

“But it’s time to evolve the concept and to see how we can use National Racehorse Week to attract more families and younger people to take their first steps into our world. We’ve had great feedback from across the sport around the opportunities this move of date will create.”   

 

Originally the brainchild of trainer Richard Phillips, 120 training yards, studs and retraining centres take part every year to help showcase the full life of horses bred for racing. Trainer support over the last four years has included Nicky Henderson, David Menuisier, Fergal O’Brien, Rebecca Menzies, Olly Murphy, Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero. Studs opening their doors have included Shadwell, Tweenhills, and the National Stud, and retraining centres from HEROS, New Beginnings and BTRC through to Godolphin’s Lifetime Care have provided some of the most popular experiences for visitors.   

Richard Phillips commented: “Each year National Racehorse Week has gone from strength to strength as the industry comes together to celebrate the racehorse.  It is an ideal time for all in the sport to show the public all that the Thoroughbred does for us and all that we do for the racehorse in making their welfare a priority.  I look forward to this year’s change of date opening up our sport to families throughout Britain and especially the young who will hopefully become racing enthusiasts of the future.” 

Racehorse trainer Charlie Johnston added: "I wholeheartedly support the move of National Racehorse Week to the school holidays. We must create more opportunities to get young people inspired and involved in our sport. Getting youngsters up close to a horse is the best first step, whether that's towards becoming a racing fan or to be inspired to work in our sport. If you get people interested at a young age, it could spark an interest for life.”  

  

Since its inception in 2021, National Racehorse Week has created over 50,000 free places for people to experience the lives of racehorses, get closer to the Thoroughbred, and meet the people who dedicate their lives to their care and welfare.   

 

But it’s more than just open days. The annual event gives racing the opportunity to reach outside of yards and get closer to the community.  Over the last four years, racehorses have been taken out to schools, hospitals, charities, and community groups as well as bespoke visits organised at training centres. To date, this work as seen National Racehorse Week connect with an additional 8,000 people outside of the public open days through more than 140 different events.    

To build on this community activity, for 2025, National Racehorse Week will be an important part of the sport’s development of a social impact strategy. Announced in July 2024, funded by the Racing Foundation, and overseen by racing’s Industry Programme Group, this strategy will define what British racing wants to achieve from its social and community activity to maximise the positive impact that the sport can have on people and communities. 

Tom Baker, Head of Social Impact at British Horseracing Authority, commented: “Social impact has been identified as a priority area for British racing and National Racehorse Week has done some great community outreach activity in previous years. The new social impact strategy, set for launch later this year, will allow British racing to harness and channel all this good work towards our collective goals, both during National Racehorse Week, and beyond.”   

Tansy Challis, Chief Executive at the Racing Foundation, added: "National Racehorse Week is an excellent way to connect British racing with the communities in which it operates, and the Racing Foundation has been proud to fund its community engagement activity since inception, in recent years with support from Godolphin and the Racing Post. The event's new August date, set in the school holidays, will amplify this and engage even more young people via its family-friendly activities."  

National Racehorse Week will continue to promote and connect to the long-established September open weekends in Malton, North Yorkshire, and The Henry Cecil Open Weekend in Newmarket.