Tuesday, April 22, 2003
RIPON'S QUALITY SATURDAY CARD
With £74,500 in prize money, Ripon's seven-race programme on Saturday (26 April), which begins at 2.00 p.m., should produce quality, competitive racing.
The opening contest is The Ripon Future Sprint Stars Handicap Stakes, a race for three-year-olds over six furlongs, while The C.B. Hutchinson Memorial Challenge Cup is a handicap race for stayers over two miles held in memory of Charles Hutchinson, who was the managing director and company secretary of the Ripon Race Company Ltd. between 1930 and 1976. Both races offer increased prize money of £15,000.
The most valuable race of the afternoon is The ripon-races.co.uk Conditions Stakes, contested over the extended mile and a half, with £20,000-added to stakes.
Lady riders - both professional and amateur - are in action in The BBC North Yorkshire Sport Pro-Am Ladies Handicap Stakes over one mile; this race is one of only two such contests of its kind in the U.K. racing calendar.
There's musical entertainment from the bandstand during the afternoon; the two children's playgrounds will be in use, while the action on the track and from the other meetings will be shown on the course's permanent giant screen.
WEDNESDAY ACTION AT PONTEFRACT
The feature race at Pontefract on Wednesday (30 April), The Pontefract Borough Handicap Stakes, is a £15,000 contest for three-year-olds over one mile and a quarter. Last year's winner, Lingo (trained in North Yorkshire by Lynda Ramsden) went on to land a valuable handicap at Epsom on Oaks Day in June.
The Cyril 'Sid' Tinker - A Lifetime In Racing Maiden Stakes is also a race for three-year-olds over one mile and a quarter, and is one of a series of races mainly in the north organised by Racing Welfare supported by Blue Chip Feeds in recognition of stable staff who have spent virtually all of their working lives in the sport of racing. Mr Tinker was born in Castleford - where he lives with his wife, Dorothy - and has spent 50 years in racing including time working for several famous trainers such as Charles, Elsey, Fred Winter, Ryan Price, Charlie Hall, Frank Carr and Harry Wragg. He has been a member of the racecourse Starting Stalls team since 1975 and reaches retirement age in August.
The final race on Wednesday is Round 2 of The Betfair.com Apprentice Series for 2003. After his victory in the First Round on Isa'af, Paul Mathers leads the way in this five-race series held at Pontefract and supported for the second year by the sports betting exchange company, Betfair.com. The prize for the leading apprentice at the conclusion of the series in September, is a fortnight's working holiday next winter at Gulfstream Park, Miami with a leading United States trainer.
Wednesday's seven-race programme begins at 2.20 p.m. with The Thorne Maiden Stakes, a contest for two-year-olds supported by the European Breeders Fund.
For old articles (from 1st March 2000) go to the Newslink
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