Musselburgh Racecourse launches its exciting 2025 Flat season today (2 April) with 16 high-quality meetings scheduled through to November, and featuring enhanced prize money with an ambitious programme which will appeal to both racing enthusiasts and those looking for a great day out.
The opening raceday is followed by two major April fixtures during the Easter holidays which gets the East Lothian course off to a flying start. First up is the prestigious Sky Bet Sunday Series Raceday on Sunday, 13 April, with £200,000 in prize money across seven races, all televised live on ITV.
This is swiftly followed by the Virgin Bet Easter Saturday Raceday on 19 April, featuring a card worth nearly £300,000, headlined by the £100,000 Queen’s Cup and supported by the Scottish Sprint Cup.
Musselburgh Racecourse Director, Bill Farnsworth, said: “April’s going to be busy with two cracking racedays, hopefully with some nice spring weather. Both the 13th and 19th of April fixtures fall during the Easter holidays, offering two great opportunities for people to come racing.”
The calendar builds toward the Edinburgh Cup, in partnership with Edinburgh Gin, on Saturday, 7 June, where the two feature races – the Edinburgh Cup and the Queen of Scots Listed race – each offer £50,000 in prize money.
“It’s a high-quality card, with horses that will be heading for Royal Ascot a couple of weeks later,” said Farnsworth. “Last year, Pilgrim won our sprint handicap for three year olds and went on to claim victory in the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes at Royal Ascot.”
The summer season continues with the increasingly popular The 90s Friday Night at the Races on 1 August. “We’ll be giving a nod to Oasis, who are playing in Edinburgh the following week, but we’ll also be featuring lots of other great tunes from that period. It’s a good party night that attracts more popular every year as people come down after work for an evening at the races,” Farnsworth explained.
The summer season peaks with Ladies Day, sponsored by Pommery Champagne, which Farnsworth anticipates “will be another amazing spectacle and the 20th consecutive year as a sell-out event.”
Musselburgh moves into late summer with Oktoberfest, which was launched last year and returns bigger and better after proving extremely popular with racegoers. This themed weekend includes the two-and-a-quarter-mile Musselburgh Gold Cup on Saturday, 13 September – the longest flat race in Scotland – followed by the Students Raceday on Sunday 14 September.
The Scottish Flat Season Finale concludes the flat racing season in Scotland on Wednesday 6 November, with Musselburgh switching to jumps racing over the winter on Friday, 28 November.
While many racecourses across the UK have struggled with attendance since the pandemic, Musselburgh is happily exceeding pre-COVID attendance levels.
Bill Farnsworth added: “Nationally, attendances are slowly recovering from the COVID pandemic, whereas Musselburgh is without doubt bucking the trend and we’re above and beyond pre-COVID levels.
“Despite wider challenges facing the racing industry, including rising costs and the impact of new gambling legislation, Musselburgh is continuing to stage bigger and better racing events providing an exceptional experience.
“The part of the business that’s in our control is delivering superb race days, and that’s what we will continue to do. Our priority above everything else is giving people a great experience when they visit the racecourse.”
The full fixture list is available at www.musselburgh-racecourse.co.uk
Stephen Rafferty is a former crime correspondent at The Scotsman and was a staff reporter for the Daily Record and Edinburgh Evening News. He has freelanced for many of the Scottish and UK national newspaper titles. Got a story? Get in touch - stephen@theedinburghreporter.co.uk
