With the British turf flat racing season now underway, the recently crowned ‘Best Small Racecourse in the North’ is set to open their gates for the opening day of their 2016 season and a jam packed summer of action.
It’s not necessarily been a quiet winter at ‘Yorkshire’s Garden Racecourse’, with substantial investments taking place around the course including a brand new 40msq LED big screen and a large resurfacing project to the front of the Club and Paddock Stands.
With 17 race meetings ahead in 2016, the Racecourse has a variety of evening, Saturday and family fun day fixtures up until September.
Ripon’s racing season starts next Thursday, 14th April with an afternoon of racing before their St Georges Day Celebrations on Saturday 23rd April. As part of their celebrations, the Racecourse are offering all those named ‘George’ (or near enough) FREE entry in the Paddock Enclosure and are encouraging racegoers to dress in typical St Georges Day fashion to celebrate a good old English day out at the races.
As part of an initiative to encourage first time racegoers, Ripon are also hosting a new FREE Friday evening fixture on 6th May – giving those new to racing an opportunity to see what racing is all about!
The course has been celebrating off the track after recently being named as ‘Best Small Racecourse in Northern England’ by the Racegoers Club, just one of three accolades given to the course in recent weeks.
The North Yorkshire course was listed in the top 12 UK racecourses as part of the Visit England Quality Assured Racecourse Scheme, the national tourism boards provide a rating that takes into account efficiency and friendliness of customer service as well as cleanliness of facilities. Ripon’s Club Dining Room was also one of three UK courses given a special award for its dining experience as part of a new RCA Excellence Accolade scheme based on Racegoers experience.
James Hutchinson, Managing Director and Clerk of the Course said: “The recent accolades are a real boost, especially with such a small team here at Ripon. We are all excited about the up and coming season with some great new initiatives lined up. We want to encourage those who have never been racing to come along and see for themselves.
You can keep up to date with all the latest news and offers from the course on their social media pages, or by visiting their website.