Key Characteristics
They have been racing horses at Ripon for over 300 years and it is known as the Garden Racecourse due to its picturesque setting. It is set in the Beautiful North Yorkshire town of Ripon and is well worth a visit.
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.
Draw Bias & Pace Analysis
There is a significant draw bias at Ripon in sprints. With fields of a dozen or less high is massively favoured when the ground is good or better. With bigger fields the horses tend to split into two groups and there is a strip of ground on the far side which is quicker than anywhere else which explains the low drawn winners in big fields. Soft ground seems to negate any draw bias.
Ripon probably has one of the biggest pace biases in the country as the round course particularly favours front runners in good conditions, the only problem with this is because it is so well known now everyone wants to lead and a suicidal pace often ensues resulting in easy pickings for the hold up horses. However the fact still remains that if you can identify a single front runner in a race at Ripon bet big.
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 it’s not at all and a lot of horses don’t like it. 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.
Trainers & Jockeys
Trainers
| William Haggas | 41.7 |
| Roger Varian | 30.8 |
| John Quinn | 16.7 |
| Nigel Tinkler | 15.6 |
| Mark Johnston | 15.4 |
| Richard Fahey | 13.8 |
| Ruth Carr | 13.6 |
| David O’Meara | 13.6 |
Jockeys
| Silvestre De Sousa | 36.5 |
| Kevin Stott | 22.5 |
| Paul Mulrennan | 18.8 |
| Danny Tudhope | 17.8 |
| Franny Norton | 17.6 |
| Jason Hart | 14.7 |
| Paul Hanagan | 14.1 |
| David Allan | 12.7 |
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