It’s a landmark year for Ripon Racecourse as it prepares for its most important race of the season tomorrow.

With the city celebrating the 1,350th anniversary of the founding of Ripon Cathedral by patron saint Wilfrid, the Boroughbridge Road track will hold the race that has been run in his honour since 1839 and has been supported by bookmaker William Hill since 1994.

The William Hill Great St Wilfrid Handicap, run over six furlongs, has attracted a field of 15 sprinters from top yards — all vying for the winner’s prize of £51,540, with a further £48,460 going to the owners of the placed runners.

Jon Mullin, marketing and operations manager at the racecourse, told the Stray Ferret:

“This will be William Hill’s 29th year of sponsorship. It is by far their longest-standing sponsorship and is something we are really proud of.”

Horses at the finish line at Ripon Races. Picture: Steve Fareham/Geograph.

With the weather set fair, a large crowd is anticipated and Mr Mullin added:

“Advanced sales have been promising. The  club enclosure sold out three weeks ago and we’re hoping plenty of people come along to enjoy a great afternoon of racing.”

While the Great St Wilfrid takes centre stage, the card also features  the William Hill Hornblower Conditions Stakes. Both races will be shown live on ITV.

The track’s roots are firmly established in the ancient city and the link between course, tradition and custom will be apparent when a Ripon hornblower signals the start of the stakes race at 1.40pm.

Mr Mullin said:

“Families are always welcome and under 18s will be admitted free.”

The gates will be open from 11.30am.

Ripon Races is under starter’s orders for its first fixture of the new season tomorrow.

Yorkshire’s garden racecourse, as the venue is known, will be hoping for a smooth year after two years of covid restrictions severely curtailed activities.

Gates open at 11am for the first of 17 days racing this year.

Jonathan Mullin, hoping for an uninterrupted season at Ripon Races

Tomorrow’s Easter family day’s first race at 1pm will feature new sponsor Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate.

Jonathan Mullin, operations and marketing manager at the Boroughbridge Road racecourse, told the Stray Ferret:

“After two years of covid restrictions, we are looking forward to what we hope will be an uninterrupted season and plenty of racegoers through the gates.

“At a time when there is a squeeze on family budgets, we are offering reduced price entry to the paddock and club enclosures at all of our evening meetings The reduction will be 23% and 12% respectively.”

William Hill is maintaining its long-term sponsorship at Ripon.

This season’s running of the valuable William Hill Great St Wilfrid Handicap,  on Saturday August 13, has added significance, with 2022 marking the 1,350th anniversary of Ripon’s patron saint founding the city’s cathedral.

New this season is a Stables Championship run in partnership with organic plant-based grooming products manufacturer, Goodbye Flys.

The stable staff of the yard that accrues the highest points total across the 2022 season will be crowned champions and receive a £5,000 cash prize, with £2,000 going to the runners-up and £1,000 to the third placed team.

Titanium Racing Club and Grantley Hall Hotel are both returning race sponsors and NE-Bet is continuing its sponsorship of the owners and trainers enclosure.

The covid vaccination programme

Ripon Races has been a key site in the covid vaccination programme.

Mr Mullin said:

“The racecourse management and course staff were proud to support the NHS and many volunteers involved in setting up and operating the covid vaccination centre here.

“Thousands of people received their jabs and boosters in the Wakeman Bar and we will continue to help the NHS when our facilities are required for the vaccination programme.”

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Harrogate’s covid vaccination centre at the Great Yorkshire Showground is set to close next month.

The site, along with the vaccination centre at Ripon Races, is run by Yorkshire Health Network, a federation of the 17 GP practices in the Harrogate district.

The final jabs will be administered at Ripon Races tomorrow. The clinic will be open to people aged 12 and over and walk-ins will be accepted between 8.30am-12.30pm and 1.30-5pm.

The showground site will continue until March 12.

The site first opened in December 2020 to support the first vaccination rollout and administered 117,000 jabs in its first six months of operation.

It reopened in December 2021 as part of the covid booster campaign.

Read more:

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Tim Yarrow, operations manager at Yorkshire Health Network, confirmed that the site would close on March 12. He said:

“After March 12 we will be offering a scaled back service on more of an ad-hoc basis, hopefully still at the showground.”

Vaccinations at the site will continue until March, with walk-in appointments available.

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Health Network added:

“Vaccination clinics are due to be held at the Yorkshire Event Centre until at least the middle of March, 

“However, with some adults and vulnerable children likely to still require access to the covid vaccine, the Yorkshire Health Network is currently looking at future provision beyond this date, with arrangements to be confirmed soon. 

“If patients still require first, second or booster doses, they can book appointments via the NHS Booking Service online or call 119, or visit the NHS website to see local arrangements for walk-in clinic.”

The vaccination centres at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate and Ripon Races reopen today for the first time since Christmas.

The two sites are run by Yorkshire Health Network, which represents the 17 GP practices in the Harrogate district.

The Yorkshire Event Centre at the showground will open for booked appointments from 11am until 8pm. Appointments are still available.

The site will also accept walk-ins from 11.30am today but people choosing this option may have to wait because bookings take priority.

The showground will be open at the weekend from 8.30am to 5pm for booked appointments and from 9am to 4pm for walk-ins.

All the clinics are for first, second or booster jabs for over-18s. Special clinics for 12 to 17-year-olds are put on separately.

Ripon Races will be open tomorrow and on Saturday at the usual times of 8:30am to 5pm for booked appointments and 9am to 4pm for walk-ins.

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Staff and volunteers at the Yorkshire Event Centre are due to relocate to another building at the showground on Thursday and Friday, ready for the Saturday clinic.

The new site is currently contracted for use until March. A decision on fourth vaccinations has yet to be taken.

The covid rate increased significantly in the Harrogate district today in another sign that the Omicron variant is beginning to have an impact.

The seven-day rate leapt from 419 per 100,000 people to 476. It was 383 two days ago. It comes after another 144 daily infections were reported by NHS England.

The rate remains considerably lower than the England average of 783 but slightly above the North Yorkshire average of 444.

Harrogate West and Pannal Ash, which has had 57 confirmed cases in the last seven days, is the district’s current covid hotspot.

A total of 91,569 people in the district have received either booster or third doses of the covid vaccine.

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The Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate will accept walk-in patients and booked patients for booster jabs tomorrow this week.

Children aged 12 to 17 will also be able to turn-up for walk-in boosters at the showground from 1.30pm to 4.30pm tomorrow and from 9am to 12.30pm on Tuesday.

Ripon racecourse, which was not open today. is due to administer more jabs tomorrow.

With no funfair on Harrogate Stray this Bank Holiday, families across the district with younger children are being invited to visit Ripon.

Saturday and Sunday will see the city hold its second summer weekend event on Market Square, with two fairground roundabouts and a climbing wall free of charge.

This follows the Yorkshire Day weekend, that saw the city hold its first large-scale public event since the covid lockdowns.

While this weekend’s activities are principally aimed at people living in Ripon and the surrounding areas, families from further afield can also attend.

City council leader, Andrew Williams, said:

“People from across the district are invited to join in the fun of the fair.

“We have two rides for little ones and a climbing wall for older children.”

Family groups gathered on Ripon Market Square for the tribute acts concert held as part of the Yorkshire Day weekend

Those visiting from outside Ripon, who would like to stay later, are also invited to attend Saturday night’s free concert, featuring three tribute acts performing on a stage in front of Ripon Town Hall.

The children’s rides and climbing wall will be open from 2pm until 8pm on Saturday and 10am until 4pm on Sunday. The musical entertainment starts at 7pm on Saturday.

On Sunday, from 10am until 3pm the next in the series of Little Bird artisan markets, featuring handmade goods produced locally, will also be held on Market Square.

Read more:

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• What’s going to happen to Ripon’s Spa Quarter?

Volunteers are needed to support the Ripon vaccination centre, which is expected to open next month.

Mashamshire Community Office, a charity which offers information and advice in the town, is looking for a team of marshals for the site, which will be at Ripon racecourse.

Health bosses confirmed the location of the vaccination site yesterday.

Volunteers are likely to be needed from the second week of February, a post on the Kirkby Malzeard and Masham Surgery website said.

The post said days may vary, but volunteers are likely to be required on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Read more:

• Vaccination site to be opened at Ripon racecourse
• Harrogate district on track to achieve February 15 vaccine deadline

Two sessions will be held at the site from 8am until 1.15pm and 1pm to 6pm. Ten volunteers will be needed per session.

All personal protective equipment and hi-vis will be provided and no DBS check is required.

Duties will include directing traffic and guiding people inside the site.

Anyone interested should contact Mashamshire Community Office on mco@visitmasham.com.

Nine races will be held at Ripon Racecourse today as the venue opens for the first time since March.

It will be a very different atmosphere for the sport, with no crowds cheering on the horses as they cross the line.

Instead, one-way systems, social distancing markers and a new 34-berth jockey changing room in what is usually a bar will greet participants as they arrive.

Marketing manager Jonathan Mullin told The Stray Ferret there had been a significant number of changes and he was confident of a successful first day:

“We’ll see how it goes, but we think we’re pretty much ready to go. The track looks as great as ever. Things seem to have gone well elsewhere with the resumption of racing.”

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Today’s card features nine races, with more than 90 horses set to take part. There had been a lot of interest in upcoming dates at Ripon, Mr Mullin said, but as more events had opened up, demand had begun to return to normal levels.

There is a limit on the number of people who can accompany horses to the course, so owners are unable to be there, but Mr Mullin said the biggest difference will be the lack of an audience.

“That’s the snag. It’s going to be very strange racing without a crowd. When you’re preparing for your season, you’re gearing towards attracting people to come racing and trying to ensure they have a good time.

“There’s not going to be any of that – it will be a sterile atmosphere – but that’s what we’ve got to work with, so we will do our best.”

With the next day of racing not until July 8, the team at Ripon Races will be making any needed tweaks to their set-up over the next two weeks. Fixtures are already set up for July 14 and 24, as well as August 6, 16 and 31.

Racing gets under way today at 4.30pm and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Racing.