The act of bell ringing is so important to one Yorkshire racecourse, it has a race named after it.  On Saturday, July 19 and day two of the Go Racing In Yorkshire Summer Festival, sponsored by Sky Bet, you can watch the ‘Ripon Bell-Ringer Handicap Stakes’.

Ripon still has a very practical use for their bell.  It is mounted in the shade of a tree in the paddock and is used to give jockeys the signal to mount.  It was previously located in the stables as a warning bell but had long been out of use and was restored in 2023.  The rope is from St John’s church in nearby Sharow.

Not only does it serve a purpose, but it is also like a piece of artwork, shining in the sun, while the traditional red, white and blue colours on the rope add to the grandeur and its placing has an ethereal feel.

Clerk of the Course, Jon Mullin is the regular ringer of the bell, but often likes to delegate the duty.  It is certainly something different for a sponsor or raceday announcer to try their hand at, but there are those that request to take on the responsibility.

For its size, it is rather loud and can have an unsuspecting owner jumping out of their skin if they are stood too close, but then again it has to be heard all around the Parade Ring, so volume is necessary.

Jon has been curating his own campanology league table, judged on the quality of bell ring, but he is currently refusing to share the placings.

Pontefract have a bell with a lot of history.  When current deputy Chairman, Norman Gundill first started working at the West Yorkshire track, back in 1966, the bell was stationed in the Pepper Pot stand, in the middle of the course.  In those days, the runners and riders were displayed on the building and the man deployed in the building would ring the bell when the horses were in the home straight.

The bell came from HMS Pontefract, a racecourse class minesweeper that was built in 1916.  Currently it isn’t on display and the team are still seeking out the perfect place to position it.

For now, Pontefract racecourse has borrowed a hand bell from Ripon to give the jockey’s up signal.  It used to be on a fishing boat and was purchased on Ebay.  Apparently, it came with the new Chief Executive!

The bell at Wetherby Racecourse has been around for a long time, but no-one seems to know much about it.  General Manager, Michelle Campbell said,

“It’s been here as long as I have, so two decades!”

It is a brass bell with a polished stone handle and sits in reception, with a sign next to it, asking visitors to ‘ring the bell’ for attention.

Apparently, everyone looks for a bell to press, rather than pick up and ring!

York took a slightly different approach to the bell brief,

“If meeting the expectations of stake holders is at the heart of marketing, then the team at York are ringing that bell- well, actually they look after the bell after it went missing one raceday”.

Of course, it’s not a requirement at every racecourse and Beverley, Catterick, Doncaster and Redcar are currently without a bell – though we might be able to persuade them…