Ripon Racecard - 26th April 2025 by Weatherbys

OFFICIALS & WELCOME

JAMES

MEET THE TEAM LIZ

STEWARDS

Chief Steward Alan Dempsey

Stewards’ Panel Chair Alison Banks

Adrian Smith, Michael Walton, Sarah Russell

STARTERS

Stuart Turner & Jason Callaghan JUDGE

Nicholas Hargreave

CLERK OF THE SCALES

Karl Curran

EQUINE WELFARE AND INTEGRITY OFFICERS

Alec Dent, Joe O’Gorman, Graham Gray

VETERINARY OFFICER

Mark Collins

VETERINARY SURGEONS

Matt Butterell & Richard Sutcliffe

MEDICAL OFFICERS

Dr Jonathan Bulman, Dr Leslie Kilshaw, Dr Patrick Wynn

DESIGNATED SAFEGUARDING LEAD

Brian Beswick - 07831331102

BETTING RING MANAGER

Malcolm Hart

COMMENTATOR

Gareth Topham

MANAGING DIRECTOR & CLERK OF THE COURSE

James Hutchinson

RACEDAY CLERK OF THE COURSE

Jonathan Mullin

CHAIRMAN

Andrew Wells

CLUB SECRETARY

Andrew Hutchinson

PATRONS

Colin Armstrong CMG, OBE

David Wilmot-Smith MBE

TODAY’S RACING

FIRST RACE 4:00pm The British Stallion Studs EBF Novice Stakes (GBB Race)

SECOND RACE 4:35pm

The Download The Raceday Ready App Restricted Maiden Fillies’ Stakes (GBB Race)

THIRD RACE 5:05pm The Visit attheraces.com Handicap Stakes (GBBplus Race)

FOURTH RACE 5:35pm The M.C.H. Hutchinson Memorial Trophy Handicap Stakes (GBBplus Race)

FIFTH RACE 6:05pm The Ripon Silver Sprint Trophy Handicap Stakes

SIXTH RACE 6:35pm The Watch Sky Sports Racing In HD Handicap Stakes

SEVENTH RACE 7:05pm The Evening Racing On Friday 9th May Handicap Stakes

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to Yorkshire’s Garden Racecourse for our ﬁrst Saturday of the season!

It was great to get back into the swing of things at our season opener last Thursday and we’re looking forward to another great afternoon of racing today.

One of our feature races this afternoon is the M.C.H Hutchinson Memorial Trophy handicap at 5.35. The race holds great signiﬁcance for my family, and it is run in memory of my father, Michael Hutchinson, who was directly involved with the running of the racecourse for over 50 years of his life. He contributed greatly to the racecourse and the City of Ripon and is sadly missed. This race is a ﬁtting tribute to him.

Last year, Course & Distance winner Knightswood was pipped to the post by Sea King, can he go one better this time?

We have music on the bandstand this afternoon from lively Latin band Grupo Azucar, and a packed racecard of seven races for you to enjoy.

We hope you have a great day with us, and we hope to see again in just under a fortnight’s time on Friday 9th May for our ﬁrst evening ﬁxture of the season.

With very best regards,

JAMES HUTCHINSON Managing Director

WHERE TO EAT & DRINK

Here at Ripon Racecourse we have the following locations where food can be obtained along with various Mobile Concessions

CLUB DINING ROOM

CHAMPAGNE & SEAFOOD BAR

SILKS & SADDLES BAR

OWNERS & TRAINERS

FOUNTAINS SELF SERVICE

JIM JOEL BAR

THEAKSTONS TERRACE BAR

WAKEMAN BUFFET

COURSE BUFFET

ALTERNATIVELY WHY NOT HAVE A MEAL IN OUR FULL SERVICE CLUB RESTAURANT…

FRESH CAFE

FRESH SEAFOOD

Selection of Freshly made Sandwiches, Snacks, Hand Baked Cakes, Coffee and Tea Infusions, Chilled Minerals and Juices

Freshly prepared Seafood Platters Handmade Seafood Sandwiches, Strawberry Cups, Pimms and Champagne, Hot Daily Special

FRESH HOT ROLLS

FRESH bistro

Selection of Carved Meats served in Speciality Breads with a variety of accompaniments and dressings

Selection of Tasty Hot Pies and Pastries served with accompaniments

Roast of the Day, Selection of Fresh Hot Dishes, Side Dishes, Daily Hot Specials, Blue Plate Salads

FRESH PIES

TRACKFACTS

A right-handed oval track, one mile five furlongs in extent, which joins the straight course five furlongs from the finish. The undulations in the straight do not favour big galloping types. NOTE:

TOP COURSE TRAINERS

LEADING TRAINERS AT RIPON (2020-2025) WITH RUNNERS:

T EASTERBY (75 wins from 588 runners, 13%) runs ZIMMERMAN (5.05), FLICKERING HALO (5.35), MANILA SCOUSE (6.05), GARDEN OASIS and POET’S DAWN (6.35), TOOTA (7.05).

R FAHEY (30 wins from 200 runners, 15%) runs VALOR SPIRIT (4.00), VINTAGE CLARETS (6.05), SUNDIATA KEITA (7.05).

D O’MEARA (26 wins from 230 runners, 11%) runs PERCY’S DAYDREAM (4.35), PISANELLO (6.35). TRAINERS IN FORM

MOST WINS IN THE LAST 14 DAYS:

JAMES OWEN (7 wins from 48 runners, 15%) runs PERCY SHELLEY (5.35), ENTHUSED (6.35).

W HAGGAS (6 wins from 26 runners, 23%) runs SAM HAWKENS (5.35).

K RYAN (6 wins from 22 runners, 27%) runs FORZA ORTA (5.05), VENTURE CAPITAL (6.05), EAST TYRONE (7.05).

TOP COURSE JOCKEYS

LEADING JOCKEYS AT RIPON (2020-2025) WITH RIDES:

DAVID ALLAN (52 wins from 306 rides, 17%) rides ZIMMERMAN (5.05), GARDEN OASIS (6.35).

DAVID NOLAN (19 wins from 111 rides, 17%) rides PISANELLO (6.35).

CALLUM RODRIGUEZ (17 wins from 76 rides, 22%) rides CABRERA (5.35), GOOD MORNING ALEX (6.35).

JOCKEYS IN FORM

MOST WINS IN THE LAST 14 DAYS:

CALLUM RODRIGUEZ (5 wins from 22 rides, 23%) rides listed above CLIFFORD LEE (5 wins from 33 rides, 15%) rides CLEAR FORCE (4.00), ARKINTHESTARS (4.35), MUDAMER (6.35), INVITORIO (7.05).

SHANE GRAY (5 wins from 12 rides, 42%) rides FORZA ORTA (5.05), VENTURE CAPITAL (6.05), EAST TYRONE (7.05).

WEIGHTWATCHER

The horses which have dropped most in the weights from previous winning handicap marks in the last two years: 5.05 FORZA ORTA (won off 86 down 6lb to 80); 6.35 URBAN SPRAWL (won off 85 down 3lb to 82); MUDAMER (won off 83 down 7lb to 76); PISANELLO (won off 86 down 7lb to 79); SPIORADALTA (won off 78 down 9lb to 69).

CLASSYTIPS

The following horses are running today in a race at least two grades lower than their previous race: 4.00 CLEAR FORCE (down 2 grades); 6.35 URBAN SPRAWL (down 2 grades); 7.05 INVITORIO (down 2 grades).

FANCYTHAT

T EASTERBY won the 6.05 race in 2022 and 2023. The stable is represented by MANILA SCOUSE in the race today.

T EASTERBY won the 7.05 race in 2016, 2019 and 2022. The stable is represented by TOOTA in the race today.

LONGEST TRAVELLERS

DRINK DRY (6.35) trained by J & A O’Neill, Cheltenham, distance of 188 miles

TODAY’S TIPS

RACE 1

Karl Burke won this race with a precocious type last year and his CLEAR FORCE, who was second to a potentially smart individual on debut at Musselburgh, appeals as another key player. Valor Spirit, a promising third to one of the selection’s stable companionswhen introduced at Leicester, is noted as a potential improver,while Secret Hideaway and Dakota Dawn need to be monitored in the betting.

WIN: CLEAR FORCE

RACE 2

DANGER:

VALOR SPIRIT

Narrowly beaten over an extended mile at Beverley latest, ARKINTHESTARS has a big chance of putting her experience over this trip to good use against mainly less-experienced rivals. Phyllis Burton and Percy’s Daydream, who both showed some promise on their respective debuts, warrant betting checks, while Coedana is an interesting newcomer to keep a close eye on for a top yard

WIN: ARKINTHESTARS

RACE 3

DANGER: PHYLLIS BURTON

Diamand De Vindecy enters the reckoning after a wide-margin success at Pontefract, despite needing to post another career best on the Flat running oﬀ an 8lb higher mark. However, there is also a lot to like about FORZA ORTA, who stays the trip well and is a slightly more attractive proposition oﬀ 6lb lower than his last winning mark. Artisan Dancer and Mr Hampstead should also be competitive.

WIN: FORZA ORTA

RACE 4

DANGER: DIAMAND DE VINDECY

Gelded since a disappointing effort when favourite at Haydock last September, SAM HAWKENS could be one to find his feet as a four-year-old, especially as he is making just his third start for the William Haggas stable. A progressive sort throughout last season, Cabrera is a key player on her return for in-form connections, as well as Knightswood, who returned to form with a solid runner-up effort at Thirsk.

HAWKENS

RACE 5

CABRERA

VENTURA EXPRESS looked to be coming with a strong challenge when hampered inside the ﬁnal furlong at Pontefract recently, and he may be able to gain compensation on this occasion. The eight-year-old may have too much for the classy Tees Spirit, who is likely to have improved plenty for his spin at Southwell in Listed company. A Royal Ascot winner last year, Pilgrim is of interest too.

RACE 6

PISANELLO returned to the fray with a promising third over course and distance. That points to a big run here and David O’Meara’s charge may edge this at the main expense of Garden Oasis. The latter ﬁnished just behind the selection on his return to action, but has won six times at this venue and another good account seems assured.

RACE 7

INVITORIO landed a novice race at Redcar last autumn and shaped well when fourth at Pontefract on his recent handicap/seasonal debut. Karl Burke’s inmate looks to have strong claims competing oﬀ the same mark. Rogue Bullet returns to handicap company after winning a novice heat at Brighton and warrants respect, while the returning Beaujolais Nouveau can make her mark at this level.

WIN: INVITORIO

DANGER: ROGUE BULLET

WIN: PISANELLO

HOWTO READ THE RACECARD

7 PEPPER LANE (27)

Ch m Exceed And Excel (AUS) - Maid To Matter

Owner: MrsLynneLumley&MrKNicholson

Trainer: DavidO’Meara,Nawton

Sponsor: ConorJ.C.Parsons&BrianM.Parsons

5 8 9 (6)

Jockey: Graham Gibbons

Form: 600100 C

Breeder:D.J.Lumley(Builders)

TIMEFORMVIEW Bounced right back to bestwhen landing Great St Wilfred forsuccessiveyearrunning inAugust. No excuses inYork Listed race last time and hasn’t stayed on previous tries over 7f StarRatingHHHHH Official BHARating 99

11 12 13 14

Sire 5 Birthplace of Horse (if not GB)

No. of Days since last ran

Weight (st lbs)

HIIII Can be given little or no chance. 1 Owner’s Colours (illustration)

Sponsor (If relevant) 16 Form / = New Season - = New Year

Bold type shows all weather form

C = Course Winner

D = Distance Winner

CD = Course & Distance Winner

BF = Beaten Favourite 17 Jockey

STAR RATING EXPLAINED

Each horse has been given a star rating, these are defined below:

HHHHH Selected to win the race.

HHHHI Good chance of being placed.

HHHII By no means out of the reckoning but at least one or two hold stronger claims

HHIII Unlikely to win but not totally without hope.

OFFICIAL BHA RATING

The BHA Handicappers allot ratings to horses once they have taken part in a sufficient number of races to enable the Handicappers to make a numerical assessment of each horse’s ability

The principal purpose of the ratings is to determine the weight to be carried by each runner in handicap races, with the Handicappers aiming to provide each participant with an equal chance based on its best recent form under its optimum conditions. A horse rated 100, for example, would be set to carry 1lb more than a horse rated 99 (ignoring any penalties or allowances).

The ratings published in the racecard for handicap races are the ratings that were used to calculate the weight to be carried by each horse, whilst in non-handicaps races the rating shown is that of each runner at the time that the entries for the race were confirmed. Any subsequently published change to a rating, either up or down, is shown in brackets following the rating.

Lloyd Ripon is a premium Land Rover retail and service centre, proudly offering the award-winning range of luxury new and approved used Range Rover, Defender and Discovery vehicles.

Our services include:

• The sale of new Range Rover, Defender and Discovery vehicles

• Approved Used Range Rover, Defender and Discovery vehicles

• Corporate and fleet vehicle sales

• Competitive finance packages

• Servicing and MOT

• Parts and accessories

• Bodyshop including accident repairs and cosmetic enhancements

Visit our retail centre today.

Lloyd Ripon

Hutton Bank, Ripon, HG4 5DT Tel 01765 804018

British Stallion Studs will contribute £2million towards British

in 2025, bringing our total investment to £40million since we were founded in 1983

FIRST RACE 4.00

THE BRITISH STALLION STUDS EBF NOVICE STAKES (CLASS 4) (GBB RACE)

for novice two yrs old

Total prize fund £10000

Owners Prize Money. Winner £4129; Second £2065; Third £1032; Fourth £516; Fifth £258. (PenaltyValue £5234) Weights raised 3lbs and paragraphs 27 to 31 of the Weights and Handicapping Code complied with where applicable. SS (FOR CONDITIONS OF THIS RACE SEE PAGE 31)

1 CLEAR FORCE (IRE) (13)

B c Supremacy (IRE) - Gecorja (IRE)

Owner: Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum

Trainer: K. R. Burke, Leyburn

RACEFORM MEDIAN TIME 1 min 1.00 secs RECORD TIME 57.11 secs

RACE DESCRIPTION

This ﬁve furlongs Novice Stakes is restricted to two-year-olds but in order to take part all of the runners must meet certain conditions. Unlike a maiden, which is restricted to horses yet to record a victory, winning horses which have run in a maximum of six races are eligible to run. Weights are set according to sex before previous winners are allocated penalties depending on the level at which they have been successful.

Jockey: Cliﬀord Lee

Form: 2 BF

Breeder: Pier House Stud

TIMEFORM VIEW Promising individual. Sent oﬀ 10/11 when second of 7 in novice at Musselburgh (5f, good) on debut 13 days ago. Sets a good standard for a race like this and there should be more to come.

2 MALINGA THE SLINGA (IRE) (2)

B c Sands of Mali (FR) - Kind Thoughts (IRE)

Owner: Millennial Racing

Trainer: Tom Dascombe, Lambourn

Sponsor: Route Agency Limited

Jockey:

NON-RUNNER

Form: 0

Breeder: Rathbride Farm

9 7 (4)

TIMEFORM VIEW €32,000 Sands of Mali colt. Dam unraced half-sister to smart 6f winner Huntsmans Close out of useful winner up to 7f (2-y-o 6f winner) Badminton. Showed nothing on Thursday’s debut.

Dam half-sister winner out Badminton Thursday’s -

3 VALOR SPIRIT (IRE) (22)

B c Ardad (IRE) - Great Dame (IRE)

Owner: Hasan Mefareh Alajmi

Trainer: Richard Fahey, Malton

Sponsor: Oliver St Lawrence Bloodstock Limited

9 7 (2)

Jockey: Oisin Orr

Form: 3

Breeder: The Great Dame Partnership

TIMEFORM VIEW Sent oﬀ 9/4 when third of 6 in maiden at Leicester (5f, good) on debut 22 days ago. Open to progress with that under his belt.

4 DAKOTA DAWN (IRE) (-)

Ch f Sioux Nation (USA) - Dawn Riser (IRE)

Owner: Mrs Jennifer E. Pallister

Trainer: John & Sean Quinn, Malton

Sponsor: JJ Quinn Racing Ltd

9 2 (1)

Jockey: Jason Hart

Form:

Breeder: Lynn Lodge Stud

TIMEFORM VIEW Foaled February 2. £52,000 yearling, Sioux Nation ﬁlly. Dam, ran twice at 2 yrs, half-sister to smart winner up to 1m Up In Time.

5 MARE OF LONDON (GB) (-)

Gr f Havana Grey - Concello (IRE)

Owner: Fox and Badger Racing

Trainer: George Scott, Newmarket

Sponsor: George Scott Racing

9 2 (3)

Jockey: Callum Shepherd

Form:

Breeder: The Concello Partnership

TIMEFORM VIEW Foaled April 21. 40,000 gns foal, 40,000 gns yearling, Havana Grey ﬁ

winner

6 SECRET HIDEAWAY (IRE) (-)

B f Starspangledbanner (AUS) - Ejaazah (IRE)

Owner: Mrs Paul Shanahan

Trainer: Adrian Keatley, Malton

9 2 (6)

Jockey: Cieren Fallon

Form:

Breeder: Summerhill Bloodstock

TIMEFORM VIEW Foaled April 7. Starspangledbanner ﬁlly. Half-sister to 7f winner Elsals. Dam 2-y-o 5f winner out of useful 2-y-o 6f/7f winner English Ballet Star RatingHHHII Oﬃcial BHA Rati

DECLARED RUNNERS 6 2024: ASSERTIVELY (IRE) 2 9 7 Cliﬀord Lee 2-1 (K R Burke) 7 ran

Betting Forecast: 11-10 Clear Force (IRE), 7-2 Valor Spirit (IRE), 15-2 Secret Hideaway (IRE), 8-1 Mare of London (GB), 10-1 Dakota Dawn (IRE)

CLEAR FORCE couldn’t justify heavy support on debut at Musselburgh a fortnight ago but it was by no means a bad eﬀort in second and likely to step up on that, he’ll take some stopping. Valor Spirit didn’t achieve quite as much as the selection on his opening run but greenness was very much apparent and he’s bound to improve on that.

GREAT BRITISH BONUS SCHEME

The Great British Bonus (GBB) incentivises and rewards with breeding, buying and racing of British-bred fillies by paying out bonuses of up to £100,000 per filly. And now with GBBPlus to further incentivise staying fillies and chasing mares, there are more reasons than ever to breed, buy and race British. Majority funded by the HBLB.

BEST TURNED OUT HORSE

A representative of British Stallion Studs EBF will select the best turned out horse and present a trophy to connections of the winner of this race

POSITION OF STALLS

Straight CourSe & 2 mileS - Stand Side round CourSe - inSide rail 1 mile 4 furlongS - Centre

You must be 18 or over to place a bet

You may be asked to provide proof of your age when placing a bet If you cannot produce this your bet will not be accepted

SECOND RACE 4.35

THE DOWNLOAD THE RACEDAY READYAPP RESTRICTED MAIDEN FILLIES’ STAKES (CLASS 5) (for horses

in Bands

B, C and D) (GBB RACE)

for maiden three, four and ﬁve yrs old ﬁllies and mares

Total prize fund £10000

Owners Prize Money. Winner £4267; Second £2133; Third £1067; Fourth £533. (Penalty Value £5400) SS (FOR CONDITIONS OF THIS RACE SEE PAGE 31)