Fairmount Park is pairing a longer 2027 calendar with a substantial backstretch rebuild after a season that produced sharper gains in participation, purses and attendance. The Collinsville, Illinois, track will race from April 6 through November 23, with live programs scheduled Tuesdays, Wednesdays and the first Saturday of each month; the first Saturday card is set for May 1, according to the facility's release distributed through GlobeNewswire.
The most consequential work is behind the starting gate. Fairmount plans to open a new paddock, jockeys' quarters and racing office next season. General manager Brian Jenkins said the racing office and jockeys' quarters will be new for the first time in decades, a change that matters as much to horsemen working long race days as it does to customers in the grandstand.
The project follows a broad 2026 refresh that included an inner rail, clubhouse kitchen, winner's circle, restroom improvements and expanded food-and-beverage offerings. The inner rail is particularly meaningful from a racing standpoint: a modern rail can improve the usable racing surface and give management more flexibility in maintaining the course, although the quality of that benefit will ultimately depend on how consistently the track crew manages footing and drainage.
Fairmount's business case for the investment is supported by measurable growth. The track reported 18% more horses run than in 2025, 30 additional races, nearly 19,000 more spectators and 37% more money distributed in purses. More than 6,000 people attended the St. Louis Derby, one of the meet's strongest recent crowds, while several cards reportedly featured more starters than any other track in the country.
The season-ending honors also show where the local competitive center of gravity sits. Alexander Bendezu led the jockey standings with 76 victories and $1,315,904 in earnings, while Scott Becker topped the trainer table with 67 wins and $1,361,400. Johanis Aranguren, who rode from Venezuela, finished with 50 wins, and local apprentice Brody Martinez posted 31. Those numbers do not replace race-by-race handicapping, but they identify the connections most likely to command attention when the 2027 condition book begins to take shape.
Jenkins told the company that Fairmount intends to keep investing in the racing product, including infrastructure and purses, to attract talent from across the region. The expanded calendar gives those investments more opportunities to pay off, particularly through monthly Saturday dates that can bring a different customer base than weekday racing. Still, the key test will be whether bigger fields, improved horsemen's amenities and sustained purse support translate into competitive races and durable wagering interest rather than a one-season surge.
For now, Fairmount enters its offseason with momentum and a clear operational plan: improve the areas horsemen use every day, lengthen the meet and preserve the fan-facing gains already made. If the track can maintain the field-size and attendance trends reported for 2026, its 2027 return on the investment may be visible not only in the new buildings, but also in the depth of its entries and the strength of its betting cards.