Ascot is best known as one of the top racecourses in the country for flat racing, but there aren’t many flat meetings left by the time that the Autumn Meeting comes around. In fact, this is the penultimate flat meeting at Ascot before British Champions Day brings the course’s Flat season to a close later in October. If you’re looking for a chance to see some top-notch flat racing, therefore, you will want to get yourself along for this popular meeting. The reason for its popularity has a little bit to do with the racing but a lot to do with what is happening off the course that appeals to many racegoers.
The BetMGM Autumn Racing Weekend takes place on the first Friday and Saturday in October. On the racing front, Friday is headlined by the £100,000 Listed Noel Murless Stakes, whilst Saturday boasts an even stronger card. The Cumberland Lodge Stakes and Bengough Stakes are both Group 3 events, while the £180,000 BetMGM Challenge Cup is the richest handicap race run over seven furlongs anywhere in the United Kingdom. Those races are surrounded by others that offer a wealth of excitement for everyone looking to enjoy the end of the flat racing season in style.
Off the course, meanwhile, is the Ascot Beer Festival, held in association with the Campaign for Real Ale. More than 160 beers, ciders and perries are available across the weekend, meaning that those in attendance get the chance to sample a huge selection of different drinks alongside the racing.
About the Weekend
The Campaign for Real Ale adds a modern twist to the more traditional form of beer festival. Everyone in attendance that likes a tipple is likely to find something that they enjoy or, at the very least, have a really good time finding out by trying some of the different options. There is certainly a feeling from some that beer tastes best when you’re trying it whilst also watching some excellent sport take place in front of you, so the combination of the Beer Festival and the races that are being run on the course will ensure that even the most po-faced of racegoers will be able to get into the swing of the meeting and find something to like.
This combination of numerous different drinks and top-class racing is something that helps the Autumn Meeting to stand out from a crowded market of meetings held at Ascot Racecourse. Royal Ascot is obviously the most famous of the lot, with the combination of real ale, autumn weather and a relatively relaxed atmosphere meaning that the Autumn Meeting couldn’t be much further in sentiment from the considerably more formal Royal Meeting. There are other meetings on offer throughout the year, but none of them are quite like what you’ll experience in autumn.
Aside from anything else, there is a curious mix of people that turn up for the racing that takes place during the Autumn Meeting. Plenty of those in attendance will go to Ascot Racecourse for virtually every meeting in the year, knowing exactly what to expect and how they fit into proceedings. There will be a fair few who will have never been before, however, and have decided to attend partly to sample the beers, ciders and perries on offer as part of the Beer Festival. This can result in a brilliant atmosphere, with everyone determined to have fun whilst some excellent Flat racing takes place in front of them.
Gates open at 11am on both days, giving racegoers plenty of time to explore the course and the Beer Festival before the racing begins.
Autumn Meeting Schedule
The Autumn Meeting is set across two days, getting underway on the Friday before reaching its conclusion on the Saturday. We look at each day in more detail on their own page, but here is a brief overview of what to expect:
Friday
The final flat racing meeting held at Ascot Racecourse is British Champions Day towards the middle of October, which sees the culmination of numerous different disciplines on the flat. Whilst that is obviously a really exciting day to witness, the very nature of it is such that it can be taken rather seriously by those in attendance. The same is very much not the case with the Autumn Meeting, largely by virtue of the fact that it combines horse racing with a festival that offers participants the chance to try more than 160 different beers, ciders and perries. If there were to be a day of the weekend that is a little more serious, though, it might be the Friday.
‘Might’ is an important word, of course, because everyone there knows that they’ll be presented with the chance to try a wealth of different drinks, so how seriously can you really be taken with that in mind? That being said, the fact that it is the Friday means that it misses some of the weekend crowd, so those that are there might lean more heavily towards watching the racing rather than concentrating on the Beer Festival.
The feature contest is the £100,000 BetMGM Noel Murless Stakes, a Listed race run over just short of one mile and six furlongs for three-year-olds. It has traditionally provided an opportunity for promising young stayers to show what they can do towards the end of their three-year-old campaign. The remainder of the six-race card mixes competitive handicaps with races for younger horses, making Friday much more than merely a warm-up for the main Saturday card.
Saturday
For all that the Friday leans a little more heavily towards the racing than the Beer Festival, the opposite could be said to be true when it comes to the atmosphere on the Saturday. This is when the weekend crowd turns up at Ascot Racecourse and wants to let its hair down, perhaps having packed the kids off to the grandparents or got a minder in to look after the dogs. Everyone in attendance will be there for a fun time, which obviously ties in perfectly with a horse racing meeting that sits side-by-side with a Beer Festival and everything that such an event entails.
Even those that are there primarily for the racing are liable to try a couple of different beers or ciders before turning their eye back to the racecourse. When it comes to what is happening on the turf, there are actually some excellent races that are run on the final day of the Autumn Meeting.
The BetMGM Cumberland Lodge Stakes is one of the main attractions, being a Group 3 contest run over a mile and a half and, from 2026, open to horses aged four and over. It is joined on the card by the John Guest Racing Bengough Stakes, another Group 3 contest but a very different test, being run over six furlongs for sprinters.
Those that like their races to have a little bit more value attached, though, will be keeping a particularly close eye on the BetMGM Challenge Cup. The seven-furlong Heritage Handicap is worth £180,000 in 2026 and remains the richest handicap over the distance in Britain, regularly attracting a large and competitive field. Put those three races together and Saturday is unquestionably one of the stronger late-season Flat cards staged at Ascot outside of British Champions Day.
- 13:15 British EBF October Stakes
- 13:50 Rous Stakes
- 14:25 Cumberland Lodge Stakes
- 15:00 Bengough Stakes
- 15:35 Challenge Cup
- 16:10 Ascot Handicap
Summary
Do you want to watch racing whilst trying a wealth of different beers? If so, you’re going to struggle to find a more perfect occasion for your wishes than the Autumn Meeting. Set over two days on the first weekend in October, Ascot Racecourse sees regular racegoers rubbing shoulders with Beer Festival attendees, who have more than 160 beers, ciders and perries to choose from. Those that are there for the racing will doubtless try a few of the drinks, whilst those that have come primarily for the Beer Festival might well find themselves distracted by the horse racing. It leads to a convivial atmosphere and makes the weekend noticeably different from most other meetings staged at Ascot.
Whilst the Beer Festival attendees will be delighted by the choices on offer to them, those that are more specifically interested in the racing are not going to be disappointed. Friday’s feature is the £100,000 Listed Noel Murless Stakes for three-year-old stayers, but it is the Saturday that is the main focus of attention for many.
The £180,000 BetMGM Challenge Cup is the richest handicap run over seven furlongs in Britain, making it a thrilling race to watch out for. The Cumberland Lodge Stakes, meanwhile, is a Group 3 contest over a mile and a half for older horses, whilst the six-furlong Bengough Stakes adds another Group 3 race to the Saturday programme. With competitive Flat racing alongside one of Ascot’s most distinctive off-course events, the Autumn Racing Weekend provides one final opportunity to enjoy a more relaxed Ascot meeting before British Champions Day brings the course’s Flat season to a close.