The highlight of Ripon’s season is the Great St Wilfrid Handicap, a 20-runner affair run for £100,000.

The field will be spread across the track and we’ll be checking on where the pace is, though high numbers have tended to do best.

We should be set fair for quickish racing ground, though those carrying lighter weights and up to 9st do way the best in this event, aside from past winner Dakota Gold who was very classy.

These are our six against the field:

Main Contenders

Cairn Gorm

Newmarket’s Kevin Philippart De Foy is gaining a good reputation, though none of his most recent runners have done very well.

His Cairn Gorm is just a four-year-old and can still improve. He won at York late last month and we’d usually trust that form, but despite his age his best form was two years ago and so another 4lb rise isn’t overly positive.

That said, he is in winning form now so could well go in again considering he is still 19lbs below his highest mark.

Lakota Blue 

His draw up against the far rail in stall one is the only real negative about Nigel Tinkler’s Lakota Blue.

Only a three-year-old, the son of Sioux Nation is one of very few horses in this field noticeably improving overall but he is doing so without necessarily winning and he keeps creeping up in the weights.

He can do much better yet, he handles quick ground and his last victory was over this very course and distance back in the spring.

Live In The Moment

Mia Nicholls claims 7lbs off Alice Haynes’ Live In The Moment which could prove crucial, even if she’s not full value for all of that claim yet.

Fourth behind Monsieur Kodi in the Stewards’ Cup consolation race at Glorious Goodwood, he has some good recent form on soft ground but was beaten at odds-on on good to firm. He did run OK that day on quick ground at Catterick however and it is unlikely to be the surface that gets Live In The Moment beaten.

Raatea

Julie Camacho’s Raatea has shown some very smart sprinting form over the past couple of seasons since being sold by Shadwell.

He was very well backed indeed to win a good sprint at Newcastle, a race he’d won twelve months previously, and while he couldn’t get the job done there, we have to keep his effort previous to that in mind.

In June, he did well to land a six-furlong sprint handicap at Haydock on quick ground and we reckon conditions at Ripon will suit him well. Ben Curtis is on board for the Group 1-winning trainer, another positive.

Twelfth Knight

Four-year-old Twelfth Knight is making his stable debut for Paul Midgley on Saturday having previously been with Ruth Carr. He is 4-18 in his career so far, a fair strike-rate for a sprint handicapper, and at his age he is entitled to still improve.

His last run for Carr was over this course and distance when he ran to form on soft ground, while we keep in mind too that two of his wins have been on fast surfaces so he seems versatile enough.

He ran OK here on good ground a few runs back, but his three strongest runs this term have all been on rain-softened ground which just tempers enthusiasm a little.

Wobwobwob

Despite running OK on faster ground in the past, Wobwobwobs most recent positive efforts have all been on soft going so this lad wasn’t at the top of the list, but he does have obvious qualities.

A fine servant of 29 outings, he is a four-time winner who was runner-up last time in a good race at Goodwood.

Summary

This is a field of mostly experienced handicappers, so we don’t think there are any Group horses lurking unless Anthem National can do it from topweight having moved from Joseph O’Brien’s yard. As well as him and the six listed above, Summerghand deserves a mention as favourite but he’s not getting any younger.

The top three finishers from the past five years are interesting. Last year was an anomaly, but mostly the winners have come from high draws such as 15, 17 and 19 twice. The average stall of a placed finisher is 11 in that time, the median is 12 and there is strong pace this time likely to come from gates 9, 11, 12, 18 and 19.

Cairn Gorm (stall 14) is interesting, as is Twelfth Knight if gate 9 doesn’t inconvenience him. The one to be on however could be RAATEA who has even more in his favour and was very much expected to go close in a valuable handicap on Northumberland Plate Day and he comes from stall 20.