Ripon Racecourse is a

thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and Horse industry, industry involving the Horse racing, racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter know ...

venue located in Ripon,

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and is nicknamed the Garden Racecourse.

History

Racing on the present site on Boroughbridge Road began on 6 August 1900. but racing has taken place at a number of locations in the city from as far back as 1664 when it hosted its first meeting on Bondgate Green. An 1856 OS map shows a racecourse on the north side of the Ure beside the road to Thirsk and adjacent to the railway station. Racing in the town first gained national attention in 1723 when the city hosted Britain's first horse race for female jockeys. Between 1916 and 1919, the southern half of the racecourse was used as a base for No. 76 Squadron of the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

(later the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

) as RFC/RAF Ripon. The ground was also used sporadically for civilian aircraft into the 1920s. It was voted the 'Best Small Racecourse in the North' by the Racegoers' Club in 2003.

Ripon Racecourse today

The annual race season at Ripon now includes Ripons "Big Night Out" and Family Day in May, Ladies Day in June and the opening day of the Go Racing in Yorkshire in July. There are other fixtures throughout the year including Children's Day, Great St. Wilfrid Day and the Ripon Champion Two-Year-Old Trophy all taking place in August. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust's Ripon City Wetlands nature reserve is adjacent to the racecourse.

Characteristics

The course is a flat, right-handed oval of 1

mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a imperial unit, British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of Unit of length, le ...

furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to any of 660 foot (unit), feet, 220 yards, 40 rod (unit), rods, 10 chain (unit), chains, or a ...

s with a sharp bend preceding the 5 furlong run in. There is a chute which creates a six furlong straight course. The cramped bends and undulations in the straight make the course very sharp.

Facilities

The course has three enclosures - the Club Stand, Paddock Enclosure and Course Enclosure in the centre of the track. Ripon also boasts a permanent giant screen.

Facts and figures

*Number of fixtures (2013) - 16 *Top trainer (2007 - 2011 inc.) - Tim Easterby, 33 wins from 340 runs

Notable races

References

External links

Official websiteCourse guide on GG.COMCourse guide on At The RacesNon-racing Events at Ripon Racecourse
Sports venues in North Yorkshire Horse racing venues in England Ripon {{England-sports-venue-stub