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	Sulafaat (Good)	26 Aug 2019	2m 19.81s
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	304	32	111	£238,845	10.53%	-£52.37
D O'Meara	181	29	73	£162,429	16.02%	£12.46
R A Fahey	200	28	70	£155,969	14%	-£46.99
M Johnston	135	17	62	£109,415	12.59%	-£58.51
Mrs R Carr	88	13	24	£99,883	14.77%	£75.75
W J Haggas	29	12	9	£54,602	41.38%	-£2.85
R G Fell	89	8	29	£46,277	8.99%	-£39.75
R Varian	24	8	10	£54,010	33.33%	-£4.21
N Tinkler	59	7	21	£35,990	11.86%	-£23.92
M Dods	47	7	16	£71,333	14.89%	-£3.22

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

Flat

Jockey	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
D Tudhope	135	33	53	£154,660	24.44%	£2.60
S De Sousa	63	23	20	£164,164	36.51%	£20.59
D Allan	141	18	58	£174,571	12.77%	-£44.36
P Hanagan	106	12	47	£62,470	11.32%	-£49.92
Jason Hart	73	12	20	£59,217	16.44%	£12.92
J Fanning	75	11	30	£119,720	14.67%	-£35.86
P Mulrennan	73	11	25	£67,708	15.07%	-£21.42
T Hamilton	80	11	23	£60,803	13.75%	-£0.55
F Norton	58	10	25	£57,582	17.24%	£0.03
Kevin Stott	50	10	14	£83,650	20%	£39.75