Most Popular Horse Racing Tracks Ranked

Many sports fans would beg to differ, but nothing rivals attending a horse racetrack for one of its premier events. Horse racing is one of the oldest professional sports on the planet. In North America horse racing was the most popular sport other than boxing prior to be supplanted by football. Each horse racetrack has its own traditions, events and configurations that make them unique. With hundreds of tracks to select from all across the globe, what are the best racetracks in the world?

Everyone has an opinion, but the top 10 best horse race tracks we selected set themselves apart from the hundreds of horse racetracks on every continent. 

What is the best Horse Racing Tracks?

Each horse racetrack on this list occupies their own distinct niche within the sport, have hosted many iconic sporting moments and will continue to make history for years to come. 

What follows is the top 10 best race courses in the world:

10. Tokyo Racecourse 

1. Location: Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan
2. Orientation: Counter-clockwise (left-handed)
3. Opened: 1933
4. Famous Races: Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), Tenno Sho (Autumn), Japan Cup, the Yasuda Kinen, the February 

Referred to as the “Racecourse of Racecourses” Tokyo Racecourse has a capacity of 223,000 and previously held the record for the largest video screen in the world when the equipment was unveiled in 2007.

Tokyo Racecourse is undulating and the horses race to the wire uphill. Although the focus has typically been on turf in Japan, that has been changing in recent years as Japanese horses have become an international force and why there is a dirt track inside the turf course. 

Horse racing is wildly popular in Japan and the stands are packed any day there is live racing. 

Tokyo Racecourse hosts eight Grade I events each season including a leg of the Asian Mile Challenge and the NHK Mile and remains one of the elite horse racetracks in the world. 

9. Santa Anita Park

1. Location: Arcadia, Los Angeles County, California, USA
2. Orientation: Counter-clockwise (left-handed)
3. Opened: 1934
4. Famous Races: American Oaks, Santa Anita Derby, Santa Anita Handicap

Poised to host a record 11th Breeders’ Cup World Championship this November, Santa Anita Park is the first horse racetrack established in California and is known for its art deco architecture. 

The grandstand, a historic landmark, seats 20,000 fans while the infield, which is open to the public, can accommodate 50,000 people. 

Nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, Santa Anita is a mile dirt oval, with a turf course on the inside. The track’s signature course is a turf course where the horses come down the hill to the finish line, cross at a right angle and continue on 80-feet of dirt, before returning to the turf.  

Since Santa Anita Park is so close to Los Angeles, many stars came to see and be seen after its doors opened. In fact, Bing Crosby, Al Jolson and Harry Warner were all stockholders. Crosby, Spencer Tracey, Errol Flynn and even Alex Trebek owned horses. 

Santa Anita also is a testament to history. Upon its inauguration in 1935, the Santa Anita Handicap was the nation’s first $100,000 race. The track is also the site of one of the greatest upsets in history when J O Tobin beat the previously undefeated Triple Crown champion Seattle Slew. 

These are just several reasons why Santa Anita Park is one of the top 10 best horse racetracks in the world. 

8. Meydan Racecourse

1. Location: Meydan City, Ras Al Khor, Dubai, UAE
2. Orientation: Counter-clockwise (left-handed)
3. Opened: 2010
4. Famous Races: Dubai World Cup, Dubai Golden Shaheen, Sheema Classic, Godolphin Mile

Meydan Racecourse may not have as much history as its colleagues on this list, but the replacement for Nad al Sheeba Racecourse made a splash from the day its doors opened. 

This horse racetrack, not only has a grandstand that spans a half-mile and seats 60,000, it contains its very own complex. There is a horse racing museum, hotel, restaurants and nine-hole golf course. Meydan is the first horse racetrack to have a five-star restaurant trackside. 

Meydan is open for business November through March. The facility hosts the Winter Racing Challenge, the Dubai International Racing Carnival and Dubai World Cup Carnival. The Dubai World Cup card is the richest in the world with more than $26 million in purse money. 

7. Flemington Racecourse

1. Location: Flemington, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2. Orientation: Counter-clockwise (left-handed)
3. Opened: 1840
4. Famous Races: Melbourne Cup, Black Caviar Lightning, LKS Mackinnon Stakes

Australia’s Flemington Racecourse is truly a gem among the top 10 horse racetracks in the world.  Known around the world for the Melbourne Cup that “stops a nation” and literally is a national holiday. Flemington first opened in 1840 on property owned by the Crown. It is pear-shaped and sits on an alluvial plain on the banks of the Maribyrnong River.

First conducted in 1861, the Melbourne Cup is the world’s richest race for handicap horses and the world’s most lucrative one at 3,200 meters. 

Flemington Racecourse, which is on the Australian National Heritage List, has named its homestretch the “Straight Six” and has three grandstands. It also has its own direct railway service. 

The Melbourne Cup is supported by a quality program year-round and is only one reason Flemington is one of the top 10 best horse racetracks in the world. 

6. Keeneland Race Course

1. Location: Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky, USA 
2. Orientation: Counter-clockwise (right-handed)
3. Opened: 1936
4. Famous Races: Ashland Stakes, Bluegrass Stakes, Breeders Futurity Stakes, Makers Mark Mile

Owned by the non-profit Keeneland Association which also operates some of the most prestigious horse sales in the world, Keeneland Race Course was rated as the top horse racetrack by the Horseplayers Association. It is on the list of the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark. 

Keeneland conducts two meets, one in the spring and one in the fall. They are “boutique” meets because they are 15 and 17 days respectively. The quality, however, is among the best in the nation as the stakes programs for the track’s meets are the richest in the land. 

Also known for its adherence to tradition, Keeneland was the last horse racetrack in North America to implement a live race caller. 

Although Keeneland does not possess the size of many of its rivals, (seats just over 32,000 total), its classic charm, beauty and position in the heart of horse country contribute to why it is on the list of top 10 horse racetracks in the world. 

5. Saratoga Race Course

1. Location: Saratoga Springs, Saratoga County, New York, USA
2. Orientation: Counter-clockwise (left-handed)
3. Opened: 1863
4. Famous Races: Travers Stakes, Whitney Handicap, Alabama Stakes, Coaching Club American Oaks

Saratoga Race Course is the fourth oldest horse racetrack in the country and entering its boundaries is like taking a step back in time. 

If you talk to anyone that follows horse racing, the first question they ask is, “Have you been to Saratoga?” 

Despite not hosting Triple Crown events like its colleague Belmont Park, which is also operated by the New York Racing Association, Saratoga presents the Travers Stakes. 

Known as the Midsummer Derby, the Travers Stakes is the oldest continuously run contest for 3-year-olds and was established long before the Triple Crown races. 

Its stakes calendar remains second to nearly none and is the site of some of horse racing’s most famous upsets. The only time the legendary Man o’ War lost was at Saratoga and Triple Crown hero American Pharaoh lost the only race of his sophomore campaign in the Travers. 

Saratoga Race Course has several nicknames such as The Spa in reference to its famous mineral springs, the Graveyard of Champions and the House of Upsets. 

Other famous upsets include Jim Dandy at 100-1 upending Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox, Secretariat losing to Onion in the 1973 Whitney Handicap and Persistently taking the Personal Ensign Handicap over Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra. 

Saratoga Race Course also has its own special traditions such as ringing the paddock bell 17 minutes prior to each race. It is one of the many reasons why Saratoga Race Course is one of the top 10 best horse racetracks in the world. 

4. Longchamp Racecourse

1. Location: Bois de Boulogne, Paris, France
2. Orientation: Clockwise (right-handed)
3. Opened: 1857
4. Famous Races: Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Prix du Cadran, Grand Prix de Paris

The Hippodrome de Longchamp, Paris Longchamp or Longchamp Racecourse, hosts Europe’s richest event, The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Conducted on the first Sunday in October, the Arc is the most prestigious turf event in horse racing and was inaugurated in 1920. 

The track’s history, however, goes much further back. The first race ever held at Longchamp was in 1857 with Emperor Napoleon III and his wife in attendance. 

Longchamp is also known for its multiple tracks with challenging hills and for the tracks being interwoven. The facility conducts more than half the Grade I races in France.

Longchamp Racecourse certainly belongs on the list of the top 10 best horse racetracks in the world. 

3. Ascot Racecourse

1. Location: Ascot, Berkshire, Greater London, UK
2. Orientation: Clockwise (right-handed)
3. Open: 1711
4. Famous Races: Royal Ascot, British Champions Day, Clarence House Chase

Founded by Queen Anne, Ascot Racecourse has featured some of the best horse racing on the planet for centuries and attracts people from all corners of the globe to experience history, elite equines, one of the most sought after social events in the world. 

All eyes are upon Ascot when it conducts its Royal Ascot meet. Conducted over five days in June and attended by the royals, this is the penultimate event in British racing. 

The social cache of being seen at Royal Ascot is real. The five-day festival in mid-June is a major social, as well as sporting occasion. Morning dress is compulsory in certain enclosures and each day of the meet opens with a procession of the royal family, a tradition that dates to 1825. 

There is much more, however, to Ascot Racecourse other than the Royal meet. Ascot hosts 18 days of racing for Thoroughbreds from April to October and concludes the season with British Champions Day.  

It is on British Champions Day the sports champion jockey, apprentice, trainer and owner are feted. The day consists of five Group races with four of them being Group I and is also a highly anticipated social event. 

With more than three centuries of excellence, Ascot Racecourse cannot be left off any list of the top 10 horse racetracks in the world. 

2. Epsom Downs Racecourse

1. Location: Epsom Downs, Epsom, Surrey, UK
2. Orientation: Counter-clockwise (left-handed)
3. Opened: 1661
4. Famous Races: Epsom Derby, Epsom Oaks, Coronation Cup

Epsom Downs Racecourse stands alone. Situated on public lands, the facility is the site of England’s Epsom Derby which is one of the most famous races in the world. Since its on public lands admission is free and seating capacity extends to 130,000. Because of the cost of admission, the Epsom Derby is one of the most widely attended racing events on the planet. 

Renowned for its u-shaped configuration, the left turn after the top of the first hill (called Tattenham Corner), and the steep descent to the finish line Epsom Downs Racecourse throws everything but the kitchen sink to the horses who compete on it. The track is known to be more demanding than other British Classic racetracks, such as Newmarket and Doncaster.

Without Epsom Downs Racecourse and the Epsom Derby, the American Triple Crown may have developed much differently. 

1. Churchill Downs

1. Location: Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
2. Orientation: Counter-clockwise (left-handed)
3. Opened: 1875
4. Famous Races: Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks, Clark Handicap, Stephen Foster Handicap

If you ask anyone, whether they are familiar with horse racing or not, they almost always can tell you one racetrack: Churchill Downs. 

Home to the Kentucky Derby or the Greatest Two Minutes in Sports, Churchill Downs’ Twin Spires are a beacon to American racing and to horse racing history. The track is truly a centerpiece of Louisville, and the Queen City hums around it. 

Conducted on the first Saturday in May, the Kentucky Derby or Run for the Roses is broadcast in more living rooms than any horse race in the world. The event is attended by more than 150,000 people each year and its signature drink, the Mint Julep, presents what the Bluegrass State is known for: bourbon and horses. 

The Kentucky Derby is the first of the three legs of the U.S. Triple Crown. It is patterned after the Epsom Derby but long before it became famous for being the first leg of the series, the Derby wasn’t exactly the most popular race in the land. Back in the days before horse trailers and trucks, trains did make travel to Louisville easy for trainers and owners to ship their horses there then return for the lucrative race meets on the East Coast with a fresh horse. 

There is much more to Churchill Downs than the Kentucky Derby. The track has hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championship on nine occasions and the Clark Handicap and Stephen Foster Handicap have their own storied history. Each race has also determined champions. 

Churchill Downs may be synonymous with the Kentucky Derby, but that is not the only reason it claims the No. 1 spot in the list of top 10 best horse racetracks in the world.