Famous horse racing tracks
in the United States.

What is on this list, and what is not

A track appears below if it meets one of two tests. Either it is scheduled to host at least one 2026 US Grade 1 race on the American Graded Stakes Committee's official list, or it is a widely recognized US Thoroughbred track whose current operating status we could confirm from its own official site. Everything else was left off, including many tracks that run good racing every week.

That rule is deliberately narrow, because a list of every active track is a maintenance commitment this publication is not making. Meets move, dates shift, and tracks close. A reference that promises completeness goes stale quietly; one that states its own boundaries does not. The Grade 1 counts below come from the 2026 graded stakes list and are re-checked annually when the next year's list is published.

Each track name links to that track's official destination. There are no live calendars, entries, odds, or race-day data on this page, and no photographs of tracks we do not have rights to publish. For the races themselves, our race guide library and the 2026 graded stakes list go into detail.

Why a track list needs a review date

The last few years have produced an unusual number of changes, and every one of them would have made a static list wrong.

• Arlington Park closed in 2021. Its signature race, the Arlington Million, now appears on the 2026 graded stakes list at Colonial Downs in Virginia. A race can outlive the track it was named for.
• Golden Gate Fields ran its final card on June 9, 2024. Contemporaneous reporting documented the closure, so this page does not list the track as active.
• Belmont Park is closed for reconstruction, with NYRA giving opening day at the new facility as September 18, 2026. Racing that would normally be at Belmont has run at Aqueduct and Saratoga in the meantime, which is why Saratoga carries 26 Grade 1 races this year.
• Pimlico is being rebuilt, and the 2026 Preakness Stakes appears on the graded stakes list at Laurel Park. The race did not change; its address for that running did.
• Ownership and branding change too. Kentucky Downs now operates as The Mint at Kentucky Downs, and Colonial Downs racing information sits on its operator's site. Old bookmarks for both tracks redirect elsewhere.

How to check a track before you plan around it

Anything time-sensitive about a track - whether it is running, on what dates, with what surfaces, and under what wagering menu - belongs to the track and its regulator, not to a reference page. Three sources answer nearly every question of that kind.

• The track's own site for its current meet dates, stakes schedule, and race-day changes
• The state racing commission for licensing, race dates, and the rules that govern wagering there
• The official graded stakes list for which races carry a grade in the current year, which changes annually

For what those grades mean once you have found the race, start with graded stakes explained. If a distance in a stakes schedule is unfamiliar, our guide to racing distances converts furlongs and miles both ways.