For Thanksgiving Day at the Races in NOLA, think Kentucky Derby meets Mardi Gras
Cool fall temperatures put race fans in the Thanksgiving mood and helped pack the grandstands for the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots to the rafters on Thanksgiving Day 2025.
This 101st running of the Thanksgiving Classic brought out patrons in their Thanksgiving Day best (and intentionally worst) to appreciate family and friends while enjoying a day at the races, as accounted in "T-Day at the Races" (Where Y'at, November 2023).
Thanksgiving day at the Fair Grounds is similar to "Thurby"—the locals' day at the races the Thursday before the Kentucky Derby in Louisville at Churchill Downs (which also owns The Fair Grounds in New Orleans). Similarly, the holiday brings people together for more than a horse race. New Orleanians' sensibilities had the spectators leading the contest in fashion forward frivolity, and the excited crowd upped their game this year. Returning families, reconnected friends, and wide-eyed newbies enjoyed the revelry.
Wendelssohn won the 2025 Thanksgiving Classic in New Orleans. Ridden by jockey Marcelino Pedroza Jr., the 4-year-old colt convincingly captured the $175,000 prize during the Thanksgiving Classic, winning by over one-and-a half-length, with a thrilling 1:09.66 six-furlong sprint. Komorebino Omoide placed at second, and Donegal Clan showed.
Regardless if they put money down on a race or not, betting on fun and frivolity in cooler temps was a wager that was won by all in attendance.
