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Aug 2024
Ripon under starter's orders for premier race day of the season
Ripon Racecourse stages its most valuable race day of the season on Saturday (August 17) when a field of up to 20 sprinters will line up for the William Hill Great St Wilfrid Handicap.
The feature race on the card, which has been sponsored by William Hill for 30 years, carries a prize of more than £50,000 for the winner.
Last year the first horse home was Sophia's Starlight trained by Grant Tuer, which won by a head from the David O'Meara trained Summerghand.
The highly-competitive six furlong sprint has been named in honour of Ripon's patron saint since 1839 and a crowd of 9,000 is anticipated to watch this year's running at the Boroughbridge Road track.
Gates open at 11am and Saturday's seven race card, starts at 1.35pm with the Class 2 EBF Restricted Novice Stakes, which has a prize pot of £30,000.
Ripon, which has earned the name of 'Yorkshire's Garden Racecourse' because of its floral displays, is looking resplendent ahead of Saturday's fixture
Clerk of the course, operations and marketing manager Jon Mullin said:
Advanced sales have been good, with the club enclosure sold out, but space is still available in the paddock and course enclosures and we’re hoping plenty of people come along to enjoy a great afternoon of racing.
Families are always welcome and under 18s who are accompanied by an adult will be admitted free.
While the Great St Wilfrid takes centre stage, the card also includes the William Hill Silver Trophy. Both races will be shown live on ITV4.
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