Avenches Racecourse

Avenches Racecourse — the Hippodrome d'Avenches — is Switzerland's principal flat racing venue for the summer season, hosting the Prix de Lausanne (the country's most prestigious flat race) and the Swiss Classic programme in the heart of the Plateau region between Berne and Lausanne. Avenches, a small Roman-era town known for its amphitheatre ruins and the Swiss National Stud farm (the Haras national d'Avenches), provides a culturally rich setting for flat racing that reflects Switzerland's equestrian heritage more broadly — the National Stud has maintained Swiss-bred horse populations and bloodstock programmes since 1898. The flat course, a left-handed turf oval, hosts an international flat racing programme from April through October that attracts horses from France, Germany, and Italy alongside the domestic Swiss field. Swiss flat racing is modest in scale — approximately 30–40 race days per year — but maintains competitive prize money levels relative to the size of the national horse population, supported by the Swiss government's historical commitment to the National Stud programme.