Flat Racing’s 2026 Turf Season: Six Horses That Could Shine
by Roy Brindley,
22 April 2026
A handful of champions will emerge from the 552 meetings and circa 4,000 races scheduled to take place during flat racing’s 2026 turf season. There will be some prolific winners and several money spinners. Our ‘Six Horses to Follow’ aims to identify a few runners that will fall into either category.
Raaheeb is bred to achieve great things, and he did not disappoint on his sole outing as a two-year-old when winning at Ascot. © Getty Images
Six Horses to Follow on the Flat in 2026
The turf flat season, which officially began with the William Hill Lincoln meeting at Doncaster at the end of March, traditionally cranks up several gears once the euphoria surrounding the Grand National settles.
2026 is no different, and when the heroic I Am Maximus was led out of Aintree’s winner’s enclosure, bookmakers and punters’ attention turned squarely toward the British Classics, starting with the 1000 and 2000 Guineas at Newmarket in May.
The one-mile contests set the tone for the season ahead with the Betfred Oaks and Derby at Epsom following soon afterwards. Could 2026 be the year, for the first time in more than 40 years, that a colt or filly completes the Triple Crown?
May is also the month when horses with Royal Ascot aspirations appear, and there are no less than 31 Group-1 races, outside of the Classics, that will have a fresh name engraved on their trophy in 2026.
Six Horses to Follow in 2026
Very few horses will land a Classic; slightly more will win a Group race of some kind. But there are 552 Flat turf meetings scheduled for 2026, and that means there will be in the neighbourhood of 4,000 races during the season.
While most horses will do well to win more than one race, some will prove to be money spinners capable of recording a sequence of victories. Here we have compiled a list of six horses we believe are worth following throughout the 2026 turf flat season.
Avicenna
Bought by Godolphin for £450,000gns as a yearling and sent by the powerhouse owners to Roger Varian, who had joined its roster of trainers at the start of the 2025 season, Avicenna got the new partnership off to the perfect start when impressively winning a Doncaster Novice Stakes in August.
He returned to the South Yorkshire venue to win a Listed contest, despite running green, the following month. Beaten into second place was Hankelow, who franked the form by winning a Group-3, stacked with horses from high-profile stables, on his next start.
Avicenna was promptly put away for the winter with a two-for-two record. Given the form boost provided by Hankelow and the ability to improve with experience, the three-year-old could have a lot more to offer this season.
By a sprinting sire out of a daughter of Galileo, his ideal trip is uncertain. However, Roger Varian is sure to find it and is likely to place this chestnut colt to good effect. It is unlikely that a decent race is not within Avicenna’s reach this season.
Abashiri
Another owned by Godolphin, three-year-old filly Abashiri ran just once as a juvenile and duly beat 12 rivals with plenty to spare. That was not a hot contest – a straightforward all-weather Maiden at Kempton – but her trainer, Charlie Appleby, has unveiled some very classy horses at that venue.
It is impossible to quantify the form worth of Abashiri’s sole victory. However, she is regally bred, being a daughter of Frankle and a Group-1 winning mare. Furthermore, she is a full sister to the Grade-1 placed English Rose.
Abashiri belongs in the ‘could be anything’ category. From a stable that consistently operates at 30% win-to-run ratio, it appears inevitable that this filly will win races. The suspicion is that those races could be in Group company.
Raaheeb
Raaheeb is 33/1 to win the Derby, and if you believe bloodlines are all that is required to win the Epsom classic, rush to an online betting site and take those odds now! By Sea The Stars, Raaheeb is a full brother to the outstanding King George winner in Hukum and the brilliant Baaeed.
Winning debut for Sea The Stars 2yo RAAHEEB
Brother to Gr1 Baaeed & Hukum@OwenBurrowsRace @JimCrowley1978 @Shadwell_EU @AgaKhanStuds pic.twitter.com/yrhGjaBr6E
— Pedigree Update (@pedigreeupdate) September 5, 2025
A ready winner of his only start as a two-year-old, like Hukum, Raaheeb is trained by Owen Burrows. Knowing the family intimately, Burrows is sure to place this precious and potentially hugely valuable colt in a way that sees him enter the winner’s enclosure at least once and quite possibly several times during 2026.
Eternal Force
William Haggas keeps very few older horses in training, and those that he does invariably improve as their season unwinds. Eternal Force has already progressed from a 79-rated four-times-raced maiden to a quality hattrick winner now racing off a mark of 96.
The four-year-old was sent off as second favourite for the 21-runner Lincoln handicap on his seasonal reappearance, where he was beaten by under three lengths into seventh. A step up in trip may await, and it would be a surprise if Eternal Force does not take a valuable handicap before the 2026 turf season ends.
Arry Up
Showing nothing in his first three starts – starting 125/1 on two occasions – Arry Up began his handicap career rated 59 and has quickly rattled up a three-race winning sequence, beating 29 rivals in the process. The Rod Millman-trained horse is now rated 73, a mark that still looks lenient.
Unlikely to develop into a superstar but guaranteed to be well placed by his shrewd trainer, Arry Up is likely to win a few more sprints during the season ahead before the handicapper finally nails him.
Inishbeg
Inishbeg has already been beaten in his first three outings and is now awaiting handicap assignments. However, when he makes his season bow, he will do so off a lofty 87 rating. As a result, emulating Arry Up’s hat-trick heroics will be difficult.
Nevertheless, a maiden or novice race victory should be very straightforward for the Kevin Ryan-trained three-year-old. Furthermore, costing £500,000gns at the sales, Inishbeg was bought to be something better than a run-of-the-mill handicapper.
Yet to be gelded or raced beyond seven furlongs – his sire has a 9.5-furlong stamina index – there are plenty of reasons to believe a path to the winner’s enclosure can be plotted for Inishbeg on more than one occasion in 2026.
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