New Racegoer Information

If you’re new to racing or visiting Ripon for the first time, it’s easy to miss the action with roughly 30 minutes between each race. To help you make the most of your day, we’ve outlined some key events and highlights that take place during the build-up to each race.

The Pre-Parade Ring

20 minutes before the race

As part of the pre-race preparation, horses are led from the racecourse stables by their stablegroom and meet their trainer or assistant in the saddling boxes to be saddled.

Next, the horses are guided around the Pre-Parade Ring, allowing them to stay warm and focused before heading to the track.

The Parade Ring

15 minutes before the race

This is the area where the trainer will meet their connections and owners, followed by the jockey, for pre-race discussions. This is where racegoers get a close-up look at the horses, often a great place to spot a winner! In most cases, the race sponsor will choose the ‘best turned out’ horse, and will then present a prize to the winning stable groom.

Placing your bet

10 minutes before the race

We have a variety of options for placing your bets here at Ripon. We have betting rings in all enclosures with various on course bookmakers, as well as our many Tote points and on- site William Hill betting shops. If you are in one of our Hospitality options, we have Tote operators who will come to your box or table at your convenience – it’s all part of the service! – For more information visit our Betting page.

During the race

Everyone has their favourite place to watch the race from, with fantastic viewing areas in all of our enclosures . If you want to be in line with the winning post, you will need to be located either in our Club Enclosure or in the Course Enclosure. We think the best view for watching one of our five or six furlong races in full is from the Club Stand.

After the race

After each race, the horses are met by their grooms. They will be unsaddled so that the jockeys can go and ‘weigh in’ and all unplaced horses are taken to the wash-down area and then returned to the stables. The first placed horse is taken into our Winners Enclosure and the second, third and fourth placed horses into the Parade Ring for people to see. When all the jockeys have ‘weighed in’ you will hear a call of ‘horses away’ from the weighing room, this gives the remaining horses the all clear to return to the stables. The winning connections are then presented with their trophy by the race sponsors and invited to watch a replay of the race with a complimentary drink in our ‘Winners Bar’.

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