- June 2026 — the three meetings at a glance
- Meeting 1 — Monday 8 June: Afternoon flat racing
- Meeting 2 — Saturday 13 June: Evening flat racing
- Meeting 3 — Thursday 25 June: Evening flat racing
- Tickets and admission prices
- Restaurant, hospitality boxes and packages
- Getting to the racecourse
- Parking
- Dress code
- What to expect on the day
- Leicester Racecourse — a brief history
- The rest of the 2026 fixture list
Leicester Racecourse in Oadby is one of England's oldest and most characterful flat racing venues — 250 years of racing history on 220 acres of open greenery four miles south-east of the city centre. The June fixtures are among the most accessible of the year: two evening meetings that suit those who cannot take a full day off work, and one Monday afternoon card that is a natural choice for anyone with a flexible schedule in the first week of the month. The evenings in particular — with racing beginning in the early-to-mid-afternoon on one and at 6:30pm on another — have the atmosphere of a summer social occasion as much as a racing event. You do not need to know anything about horse racing to enjoy an evening at Leicester in June. You just need to show up.
Meeting 1 — Monday 8 June 2026: Monday Afternoon Flat Racing
The first of Leicester's three June meetings is a Monday afternoon flat card — a weekday meeting with first race at 12:30pm. Monday meetings at Leicester have an appealingly uncrowded quality compared to weekend fixtures — the atmosphere is more relaxed, the crowds thinner, and the whole experience more accessible to racing newcomers who might find the intensity of a busy Ladies Day or Saturday evening more intimidating.
A typical Leicester flat afternoon card runs six to seven races spread across roughly three to four hours — meaning the last race is usually complete by 4pm to 5pm. This makes it a practical midweek day out: arrive at noon when the gates open, watch a full card of racing, and be home by early evening.
This meeting follows on from the May meetings — the Family Fun Day on 25 May and the Student Raceday on 26 May — so by early June the track is well into its flat season stride. The going at Leicester in early June is typically good to firm, which suits horses who appreciate a sound surface and produces competitive, watchable racing.
- Date: Monday 8 June 2026
- Type: Flat racing — National Hunt season is over, this is a summer flat card
- First race: 12:30pm (doors open approximately 30–60 minutes before)
- Best for: Anyone who wants a quiet, relaxed introduction to racing · Flexible workers · Retired and older visitors who prefer a weekday atmosphere
- Admission: Standard general admission pricing — see tickets section below
- Children: Under 18s free with a paying adult
- Parking: Free
Meeting 2 — Saturday 13 June 2026: Saturday Evening Flat Racing
The most socially oriented of the three June meetings and the one most likely to draw a group crowd. The Saturday evening format — with first race at 6:30pm — is designed specifically for people who want a Saturday evening out rather than a full day at the races. Arrive after work, after an early dinner, or simply in time for the first race and stay for the last.
Evening meetings at Leicester in summer carry a distinctive atmosphere. The light holds late into the evening in June — sunset is around 9:30pm — meaning the later races are run in warm evening light rather than darkness. The racecourse on a warm June Saturday evening has a social energy that the afternoon meetings don't quite replicate: groups dressed up, the bars busier, the whole occasion feeling more like an event than a sporting fixture.
A typical evening card runs five to six races over approximately two to two-and-a-half hours, meaning the last race is usually complete by around 8:30pm to 9pm. This makes it a genuinely manageable Saturday evening out — start at 6:30pm, finish before 9:30pm, the night is still young.
This is marked as an early closing (E) meeting on the official fixture list — indicating a slightly condensed programme compared to full afternoon meetings.
- Date: Saturday 13 June 2026
- Type: Flat racing — Saturday Evening meeting (Early Closing)
- First race: 6:30pm
- Best for: Groups · Couples · Anyone wanting a summer evening out with a difference · Racing newcomers wanting an accessible first experience
- Dress: Smart casual encouraged — this is a Saturday evening and people tend to dress up more than for weekday meetings
- Children: Under 18s free with a paying adult
- Parking: Free
Meeting 3 — Thursday 25 June 2026: Thursday Evening Flat Racing
The final June meeting and the one that most directly precedes the big summer event — Ladies Day on Saturday 4 July. Thursday 25 June is an evening flat card with first race at 4:15pm. The earlier first race time compared to the Saturday 13 June meeting reflects a slightly longer programme — there may be more races on this card than the Saturday evening card, giving it more of a full racing afternoon feel despite the evening fixture designation.
This is also marked as an early closing (E) meeting on the official fixture list. For racing enthusiasts, a Thursday meeting in late June with the flat season in full swing and the summer's best horses in form is one of the more interesting propositions of the year — trainers are looking for runs ahead of mid-summer targets and the quality of the fields can be notably higher than mid-season midweek cards earlier in the spring.
The proximity to the end of June means this meeting often carries good ground conditions — Leicester's track is noted for rarely relenting to excessive rain, and late June is typically the driest part of the flat season. Firm to good ground suits the faster, more compact style of flat racing at this track.
- Date: Thursday 25 June 2026
- Type: Flat racing — Thursday Evening meeting (Early Closing)
- First race: 4:15pm
- Best for: Regular racegoers · Anyone building toward Ladies Day · Thursday evening plans with longer racing programme
- Children: Under 18s free with a paying adult
- Parking: Free
"Leicester Racecourse sits within 220 acres of open greenery, where space and scale are immediately felt. From arrival, the surroundings create a calm yet expectant mood as the course stretches across the landscape. Because of its size, Leicester offers a sense of freedom rarely found elsewhere."
— Racecourse Hospitality review
Tickets and Admission Prices
Leicester Racecourse operates a straightforward ticketing system with genuine early-booking discounts that make buying in advance genuinely worthwhile. Tickets are available online through the official Leicester Racecourse booking system or at the gate on the day.
| Ticket Type | Price (Early Booking) | Price (On the Gate) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Admission — standard raceday | ~£14 | ~£16 | Access to all public enclosures and the trackside betting area. Best value for most visitors. |
| General Admission — popular days | ~£16–£20 | £2 more on gate | Saturday evening meetings may carry a slightly higher admission charge. |
| Restaurant / Club Suite | ~£49–£55 per person | Varies | Three-course meal included with Club Suite Restaurant packages. Pre-booking essential. |
| Under 18s | Free | Free | All three June meetings — children under 18 free with a paying adult. ID may be required. |
| Owners and Trainers | Badge-based — contact Diana at the racecourse | — | Up to 8 owners per runner. Includes complimentary tea, coffee, two-course meal and a drink voucher. |
- Buy in advance online — the early booking discount saves £2 per person compared to the gate price. For a group of four that is £8 saved for two minutes on a website. Book at tickets.leicester-racecourse.com
- Children under 18 are free on all three June meetings — they do not need a ticket but must be accompanied by a paying adult at all times. The racecourse may ask for proof of age.
- Food and drink cannot be brought onto the racecourse for general meetings — only on designated Family Day meetings. You may return to your car during the day to access food left there.
- The Club Suite Restaurant offers a three-course meal with racing views — book separately through the restaurant booking system on the racecourse website.
Restaurant, Hospitality Boxes and Packages
Leicester Racecourse offers several levels of hospitality experience above the general admission ticket. These range from the Club Suite restaurant package to private executive boxes overlooking the winning post. All hospitality bookings are made in advance — walk-up hospitality is not available on race days.
- Club Suite Restaurant: Three-course meal with views over the course. Prices approximately £49–£55 per person for standard meetings. Includes admission to the Club enclosure. Tables must be booked in advance. Menus for 2026 are available on the racecourse website.
- Executive Boxes (Premier Suites): Private boxes positioned alongside the winning post with sweeping views of the track. Ideal for corporate groups and celebrations. Boxes accommodate varying group sizes — contact the racecourse directly for pricing and availability on specific June dates.
- Owners & Trainers Hospitality: If you have a horse running, contact the racecourse directly — up to 8 owners per runner receive complimentary badges, tea, coffee, a two-course meal, and a drink voucher. Contact Diana at the racecourse for badge arrangements.
- The Kube Event Centre: Leicester's standalone event space for larger groups, conferences, and private bookings — available separately from the main racecourse hospitality.
- Restaurant booking: leicester-racecourse.co.uk/racing/restaurant
- Executive Box booking: leicester-racecourse.co.uk/racing/executive-boxes
- General enquiries: 0116 271 6515 · Leicester Racecourse Co Ltd, Oadby, Leicester LE2 4AL
- Full 2026 menus have been finalised and are viewable on the official racecourse website.
Getting to Leicester Racecourse
Leicester Racecourse is located in Oadby, approximately four miles south-east of Leicester city centre. The postcode for sat-nav is LE2 4AL.
| Method | Route / Detail | Journey Time from City Centre | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bus | Buses run from Leicester city centre to Oadby and stop across the road from the racecourse entrance on Leicester Road | ~20–25 min | Good option for evening meetings — allows a drink without driving concerns. |
| Car | South on London Road or Welford Road towards Oadby. Well signposted from the A6 and surrounding roads. | ~15–20 min | Free parking on all June dates. Use LE2 4AL for sat-nav. Follow racecourse signs. |
| Taxi / Uber | Direct to racecourse entrance | ~15 min | Good for evening meetings. Book return journey in advance — after the last race, demand for taxis increases significantly. |
| Train | Leicester station is 2 miles from the racecourse. Taxi from the station rank or bus onward to Oadby. | ~30 min total | Nearest station Leicester. Taxi rank outside the station. Train to Leicester from across the Midlands and London in under an hour. |
| Walking | From Leicester city centre — approx. 4 miles along London Road / Welford Road to Oadby | ~75 min on foot | A pleasant walk in fine weather but most people use transport for the return. |
- For the Saturday 13 June evening meeting, book a taxi home in advance — after the final race at approximately 8:30–9pm, demand for taxis from the Oadby area increases sharply.
- Uber operates in Leicester and generally has coverage in Oadby, but surge pricing can apply post-race when multiple people are all requesting at the same time. Booking 30 minutes before the last race often gets better pricing.
- The bus back from Oadby to Leicester city centre runs until late evening on weekdays and Saturdays — check the current Arriva/First Leicester timetable for your specific service, as routes to Oadby vary.
Parking at Leicester Racecourse
Parking at Leicester Racecourse is free of charge on all three June race meetings — one of the genuinely welcome things about a day at this track compared to many larger venues where parking can add significantly to the day's cost.
- Car Park A — the main car park at the front of the course. Grassed area. Free. This is where the majority of general admission visitors park.
- Car Park C — Owners and Trainers car park, to the right of the course. Hard standing. Reserved for badge holders with a horse running.
- Car Park B — overspill car park for busy days. Free. Stewards will direct you if Car Park A is full.
- Accessibility parking — show your accessibility badge to the stewards on arrival and they will assist you to the allocated spaces.
- Park & View Picnic car park — available only on designated Family Day meetings, not on the three June fixtures listed here. A small charge of £5 per car applies when it is open.
- All parking is free on 8, 13, and 25 June 2026. No parking charges apply on any of these dates.
Dress Code
Leicester Racecourse does not enforce a strict dress code — which is one of the things that makes it more accessible than some of the more formal British racing venues.
- No strict dress code is enforced at Leicester Racecourse. You will not be turned away for wearing jeans.
- Football shirts and vests are specifically noted as inappropriate in hospitality areas — if you are in the Club Suite or an Executive Box, avoid these.
- General advice for June: The evenings can be warm in June but temperatures drop once the sun goes. A light jacket or layer is sensible for the later races at the 6:30pm Saturday evening meeting.
- The Saturday evening (13 June) and Thursday evening (25 June) attract a smarter crowd than the weekday afternoon meetings — smart casual is the natural default and most people use the evening format as an excuse to dress up slightly more than they would on a Tuesday lunch at a midweek meeting.
- For Ladies Day in July — the next big fixture — the dress code becomes much more important, with hats, fascinators, and formal summer wear the norm. For the June meetings, this is not expected.
What to Expect on the Day
Leicester Racecourse hosts approximately 30 race meetings per year — 19 flat and 11 jump — which makes it one of the busier flat venues in the Midlands by volume of fixtures. The June flat meetings are part of a summer programme that the track has been running for decades and the operation is well-practised.
- Arriving: Gates open approximately 30–60 minutes before the first race. On-course betting shops, the Tote, and trackside bookmakers are all operating before racing begins.
- The parade ring: Horses are walked in the parade ring before each race — this is one of the best free activities at any racecourse. Watching the horses parade close-up before a race, seeing the jockeys mount, and following the pre-race activity is an experience that television racing doesn't convey. The parade ring at Leicester is accessible to all general admission ticket holders.
- Betting: On-course bookmakers line the rails offering their own prices, often slightly better than the official SP (starting price) for popular horses. The Tote is the official pool betting operation. You can place bets of any size — a £2 win bet is perfectly normal and keeps you engaged with every race regardless of the outcome.
- Food and drink: Multiple catering outlets operate on race days — hot food, bars, and snack options across the public enclosures. Food and drink brought from outside is not permitted except on Family Day meetings.
- Photography: Personal photography is permitted for non-commercial purposes throughout the course.
- Dogs: Dogs are not permitted at Leicester Racecourse.
- Metal detector searches: Random bag and metal detector searches may be conducted on entry — standard procedure at all racecourses.
For First-Time Racegoers — The Honest Beginner's Guide
If you have never been to the races before, Leicester is one of the better courses to start with — it is unpretentious, well-organised, and the scale is manageable without being overwhelming. Here are the things that make the first visit easier.
- Pick up a racecard. Sold at the entrance for a small fee (usually £2–£3), the racecard contains every horse in every race, the jockey and trainer, recent form figures, and the weights carried. Even if you don't fully understand form figures, having the card in your hand makes each race significantly more engaging.
- Understanding the odds: The odds are shown on the bookmakers' boards in fraction form — 5/1 means you win £5 for every £1 you stake. Even money (1/1) means you double your money. 2/5 means you stake £5 to win £2. The shorter the odds, the more likely the horse is to win according to the market.
- Don't bet more than you're happy to lose. For a first visit, £10–£20 across the whole afternoon is plenty — it keeps you engaged without financial stress. Treat it as entertainment spend rather than an investment.
- Watch from the rail at the finish line for at least one race. The experience of six horses coming home at full speed directly past you is completely different from watching on a screen — the sound and scale of it is the reason people come back.
- Visit the parade ring before every race you're planning to bet on. Watching the horses move gives you genuine information — a horse that looks relaxed and well-muscled is worth noting; one that is sweating heavily or behaving fractiously may not perform.
Leicester Racecourse — A Brief History
Leicester Racecourse has been in operation in one form or another since 1773 — making it one of the older established racing venues in England, though not one that typically makes the national racing headlines unless something significant happens there.
The original racing at Leicester took place at Victoria Park — a venue closer to what is now the built-up city centre. In 1883, the racecourse relocated to its current site in Oadby, where it has operated for over 140 years on 220 acres of open greenery. The Oadby site was a significant step up from Victoria Park in terms of scale and quality of facilities.
The late nineteenth century was Leicester's golden age as a racing venue. The course hosted some of the most valuable races in England — including The Prince of Wales Stakes and The Portland Stakes, which in the 1880s carried more prize money than any of the five British Classic races. That period of peak prestige has not been matched since, but Leicester remains a well-regarded dual-purpose track with 30 meetings per year and a consistent reputation for fair, competitive racing.
The course made international headlines in the 1980s for a very different reason: the Flockton Grey scandal of 1982, described by racing journalists as one of the largest betting scandals in British racing history. A two-year-old named Flockton Grey won a race at Leicester by 20 lengths — an extraordinary margin for a first-time runner. Investigation revealed that the horse entered was not Flockton Grey at all but a four-year-old ringed in its place. The scandal resulted in disqualification, racing bans, and the introduction of more rigorous identity-checking procedures across British racing.
- Founded: Racing at Victoria Park, Leicester, from 1773
- Current site: Moved to Oadby in 1883 — over 140 years ago
- Size: 220 acres
- Meetings per year: Approximately 30 — 19 flat, 11 jump
- Track layout: Dual-purpose. Flat races up to one mile are staged on the straight course; longer flat races use the 1.75-mile round track. Jump meetings use the round course with 10 fences, 2 open ditches, and a water jump.
- Going character: Known for rarely relenting to excessive rain — typically good to firm in summer, which suits faster horses and produces competitive flat racing
- Stabling: 108 stables on the racecourse, plus 6 high-security stables for high-profile horses
- Address: Leicester Racecourse, Leicester Road, Oadby, Leicester, LE2 4AL
- Phone: 0116 271 6515
The Rest of the 2026 Fixture List — What's Coming After June
If the June meetings whet the appetite, the second half of the 2026 flat season at Leicester has several significant dates worth planning ahead for.
| Date | Day | Type | First Race | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday 4 July 2026 | Saturday | Flat — Afternoon | 12:00pm | Ladies Day — featuring Heather Small (M People) and Go West. The biggest social event of the Leicester racing year. Tickets from ~£30. Book well ahead. |
| Tuesday 14 July 2026 | Tuesday | Flat — Afternoon | 2:00pm | Standard flat afternoon meeting |
| Wednesday 22 July 2026 | Wednesday | Flat — Evening (E) | 6:00pm | Evening flat meeting |
| Wednesday 29 July 2026 | Wednesday | Flat — Evening (E) | 6:00pm | Evening flat meeting |
| Sunday 9 August 2026 | Sunday | Flat — Afternoon | 2:00pm | Summer Picnic at the Races — one of Leicester's feature meetings |
| Tuesday 8 September 2026 | Tuesday | Flat — Afternoon | 12:10pm | Flat meeting — season beginning to wind toward autumn |
| Monday 21 September 2026 | Monday | Flat — Afternoon | 2:00pm | Flat meeting |
| Tuesday 6 October 2026 | Tuesday | Flat — Afternoon | 2:00pm | Flat meeting |
| Tuesday 13 October 2026 | Tuesday | Flat — Afternoon | 2:00pm | Flat meeting |
| Monday 26 October 2026 | Monday | Flat or Jumps — Afternoon | 1:00pm | Transition period — jumps season beginning |
| Tuesday 17 November 2026 | Tuesday | Jumps — Afternoon | 11:30am | National Hunt season underway |
| Monday 28 December 2026 | Monday | Jumps | 11:35am | Post-Christmas Winter Raceday — a feature meeting for the festive period |
- Ladies Day is Saturday 4 July 2026 — the most popular meeting of the Leicester racing year. Heather Small (of M People — "Search for the Hero", "Moving On Up") and the band Go West are performing live after racing.
- Tickets for Ladies Day are priced at approximately £30 for general admission — significantly more than standard race day admission.
- Ladies Day is the one meeting where a dress code is actively encouraged — hats, fascinators, and formal summer wear. Children are not free on Ladies Day (unlike standard race meetings).
- This meeting is already partially sold out from the earlier seasonal release. Book through the official site immediately: tickets.leicester-racecourse.com
- Buy tickets online: tickets.leicester-racecourse.com
- Book the restaurant: leicester-racecourse.co.uk/restaurant
- Official fixture list: leicester-racecourse.co.uk/fixture-list
- Going updates (ground condition): leicester-racecourse.co.uk — going updates
- Race cards and runners: racingpost.com/leicester — the most up-to-date source for race entries and results
- Racecourse phone: 0116 271 6515
- Address: Leicester Racecourse, Leicester Road, Oadby, Leicester, LE2 4AL
