Officials were kept busy in the final two races of our popular Monday evening fixture as photo finishes were required to separate the first two in the mile and 6f handicaps, and rare among races, placings were reversed in the first of these.
The City of Ripon Handicap looked an innocuous enough race on paper, the five runners measured only by a 17lb weight range. The Easterby stable appeared to have a strong hand with two runners, the outsider of which, Beyond The Bar, made the running. As the race developed 2f out, the five spread across the track with plenty of racing room, but George Scott’s Command The Stars under Darragh Keenan, hung left. Given the distances of a short head and a short head between the first three, the stewards opted to demote the winner to third place behind Noelan Star. Danny Tudhope can adjudge himself a tad lucky to have picked up his 40th winner of the year, as at least from the side-on, the interference looked marginal, but then so were the winning margins. Who’d be a steward?
Ripon’s sprints always provide great sport, and spectators who left early were denied a blistering finish in the last. Six year old Zuffolo tried to run the legs off his 5 rivals with a pillar to post dash, before being challenged by Doralee and Cheerleader. In a rousing finish, 5lb claimer Rhys Elliott held off the two challengers to maintain his advantage by a head and a head. Phew!
This was a narrow handicap, 6lb separating the six runners, so it won’t be long before either of the placed contenders hits their own sweet spot.
Zuffalo’s success bookended a double for Elliott, who also scored in the opener for Grant Tuer. Three year old Riddikulus was successful here in the first week of July under Elliott, and scored again from just off the pace to beat Balmoral Boy 1 3/4l in the apprentices race over 1m2f.
Our Novice races provide an early opportunity to see horses that may develop into the stars of the future. The latest 7 to display their talent in the EBF British Stallion Studs Novice event for juveniles over 6f included 4 seeing the racecourse for the first time. It was the Crisford-trained Pure Mint that applied a Newmarket flavour to the evening, winning as an 11/10 favourite should, by 4 1/2l.
Thirty minutes later, another set of novices, this time 3 year olds, set off on the mile long Queen Ethelburga Collegiate Fillies Stakes. Despite hanging right in the final furlong, Clifford Lee had this well in hand on Karl Burke’s Prosperity to win by 1 3/4l. Burke’s winning percentage is nothing to write home about, but some small compensation for a fine of £4,500 and the disqualification of a winner during July 2025 after breaches of the rules governing the use of prohibited substances and the maintenance of accurate medical records. No suggestion of impropriety here; more a less than perfect recording of treatments applied. Ouch.
Richard Hannon runners are rare at Ripon, but well worth following. Paper View endorsed his maiden Nottingham success 10 days ago as no flash in the pan with an accomplished 1 1/4l success over Harley from the Yorkshire stable of Edward Bethell. Joe Leavy had travelled to Ripon for just two rides, but confirmed the second of Hannon’s 2 winners at Ripon this year, from just 7 runners.
