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	Ribblehead (Good)	17 Jun 2015	2m 0.6s
1m 2f 190y	Beauvais (Good to Firm)	30 May 2018	2m 20.17s
1m 4f 10y	Knights Table (Good)	29 Apr 2017	2m 32.04s
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	269	30	97	£229,597	11.15%	-£41.12
R A Fahey	209	29	73	£151,035	13.88%	-£59.56
D O'Meara	183	26	71	£139,897	14.21%	-£0.88
M Johnston	134	21	65	£124,654	15.67%	-£19.88
W J Haggas	24	11	10	£48,263	45.83%	£3.17
Mrs R Carr	68	9	20	£71,972	13.24%	£47.25
J J Quinn	50	8	20	£34,660	16%	£13.10
R Varian	26	8	9	£39,548	30.77%	-£5.51
K Dalgleish	59	7	20	£71,397	11.86%	-£27.13
N Tinkler	44	7	12	£34,826	15.91%	-£11.67

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

Flat

Jockey	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
S De Sousa	74	27	24	£194,604	36.49%	£24.84
D Allan	147	19	58	£182,180	12.93%	-£32.39
F Norton	91	16	40	£104,269	17.58%	£1.17
D Tudhope	90	16	34	£70,626	17.78%	-£19.26
P Mulrennan	79	16	28	£88,257	20.25%	-£0.09
P Hanagan	78	11	34	£48,890	14.1%	-£25.52
Jason Hart	79	11	28	£55,789	13.92%	-£6.42
T Hamilton	94	11	27	£50,366	11.7%	-£23.63
P J McDonald	99	8	47	£35,125	8.08%	-£53.72
P Makin	90	8	44	£56,926	8.89%	-£41.50