Frontrunners and prominent racers enjoy a significant edge at Ripon and Nigel Tinkler’s Lord Roxby, a winner over course and distance this month, has a fine chance to follow up that success in the Great St Wilfrid Handicap at the Yorkshire track on Saturday.
A high-numbered stall is also an advantage in single-figure fields at Ripon as pacier horses can grab the stands’ rail, but Intervention’s front-running success from stall one 12 months ago – with the stands’-side pace horses second and third – showed that speed is more important when, as on Saturday, a big field is likely to split.
