Ripon Course Guide

Racing takes place at the North Yorkshire track throughout the summer with two distinct highlights, the Great St Wilfrid Stakes and the Ripon Champion Two year Old Trophy.

The Great St Wilfrid Stakes is a valuable sprint handicap run over six furlongs for three-year-olds and upwards and takes place in mid-August. The richest race staged at the North Yorkshire venue, the handicap has established itself as a milestone in the flat season and serves as a potential stepping stone to the Ayr Gold Cup.

Trainers David O’Meara and Richard Fahey have dominated the race in recent years, between them winning all five renewals from 2011-2015.

Ripon’s other feature race is the Listed Ripon Champion Two year Old Trophy, which takes place on August Bank Holiday Monday, and is run over six furlongs.

Flat Racing

A right-handed, oval circuit of thirteen furlongs, with a run-in of five furlongs, and a straight six-furlong course. Owing to the rather cramped bends and the surface undulations in the straight, the Ripon track is rather sharp in character.

In good conditions, Ripon is a front-runner’s course. There’s a ridge about a furlong and a half out, from where you can kick on and, if you can get away at that point, you’ll be very hard to beat. It’s a track that can give the impression of being bowling-green flat but, believe me, it’s not at all and a lot of horses get lost around there. On the sprint course, up against the stands’ side rail is the place to be, ideal for fast horses. They’ve worked hard on the round track latterly – and most horses handle it nicely.

View from the saddle: Jason Weaver

Ripon Top Times
Last 5 years

Flat

Distance	Horse (Going)	Date	Winning time
5f	Desert Ace (Good)	24 Sep 2016	57.28s
6f	Classic Seniority (Good)	31 Aug 2015	1m 5.09s
1m	Pyjama Party (Good)	06 Jul 2015	1m 36.33s
1m 1f	Gurkha Friend (Good to Firm)	20 May 2018	1m 51.01s
1m 1f 170y	Sameem (Good to Firm)	08 Jul 2019	1m 59.23s
1m 2f 190y	Beauvais (Good to Firm)	30 May 2018	2m 20.17s
1m 4f 10y	Just Hubert (Good to Firm)	08 Jul 2019	2m 31.04s
1m 6f	Stormin Tom (Good)	13 Aug 2018	2m 59.76s
2m	My Reward (Good)	29 Apr 2017	3m 27.28s

Ripon Top Trainers
Last 3 years (ordered by number of winners)

Flat

Trainer	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
T D Easterby	295	30	108	£232,604	10.17%	-£51.37
R A Fahey	203	28	66	£140,483	13.79%	-£50.69
D O'Meara	183	27	72	£152,447	14.75%	£9.63
M Johnston	130	19	60	£120,412	14.62%	-£46.70
W J Haggas	32	14	9	£60,424	43.75%	£0.55
Mrs R Carr	83	13	25	£99,883	15.66%	£82.75
R G Fell	79	8	25	£46,277	10.13%	-£28.75
N Tinkler	57	7	20	£34,826	12.28%	-£25.67
J G Given	25	7	9	£38,964	28%	£16.63
R Varian	23	7	9	£36,637	30.43%	-£8.51

Ripon Top Jockeys
Last 3 years (ordered by number of winners)

Flat

Jockey	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
D Tudhope	125	29	45	£129,648	23.2%	£7.02
S De Sousa	71	25	24	£184,901	35.21%	£21.59
D Allan	144	17	62	£171,558	11.81%	-£50.10
P Hanagan	104	13	45	£63,921	12.5%	-£45.52
P Mulrennan	75	13	24	£72,925	17.33%	-£16.72
Jason Hart	74	13	20	£64,069	17.57%	£17.42
F Norton	71	11	30	£64,051	15.49%	-£12.53
J Fanning	58	11	23	£119,073	18.97%	-£19.00
Kevin Stott	48	10	16	£83,650	20.83%	£41.75
J P Sullivan	102	9	39	£89,785	8.82%	£37.00