Trainer David O’Meara hopeful Summerghand can earn him a fourth William Hill Great St Wilfrid Handicap at Ripon

The eight-year-old has won 13 times for the Helmsley handler, with the 2020 Stewards’ Cup at Goodwood, the All-Weather Sprint at Lingfield and Group Three and Listed wins at Newmarket on his big-race CV.

Although winless so far this season, Summerghand finished strongly to place fifth in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot in June and again shaped with credit after meeting trouble in running when bidding to regain his Stewards’ Cup crown a fortnight ago.

Those defeats have seen him drop to a rating of 98 – his lowest mark in well over three years – and O’Meara is keeping his fingers crossed his stable stalwart gets the breaks he needs this weekend.

He said: “The draw isn’t ideal (stall three), but he’s run well in the race before – he was second in it a few years ago.

“He didn’t get a clear run at Goodwood the last day, or at Ascot the time before. He’s in good form at home and hopefully he’ll win a big one again soon.”

One of the least exposed runners in the race with just 10 runs under his belt is Blackrod, who makes his first start for Leyburn handler Ed Bethell having previously been trained by Michael Dods.

The four-time winner was just a length behind Summerghand when seventh in the Wokingham and Bethell is excited to see him in action.

He said: “Blackrod seems to be in good form, he’s favourite and James Hutchinson (Ripon clerk of the course) has promised us the ground is going to be as good as possible on Saturday.

“It’s a fact-finding mission and we don’t have a great draw in stall one – the high numbers normally win the Great St Wilfrid.

“It’s very exciting. I’m very fortunate to be training him and I’m still learning about the horse, but from what he’s showing me at home, he looks a nice horse and we’re looking forward to it.”

Misty Grey had the option of running in the Hungerford Stakes at Newbury, but instead carries top-weight in North Yorkshire off the back of winning at Chelmsford three weeks ago.

Last year’s winner Justanotherbottle for Hambleton’s Kevin Ryan, Emperor Spirit (Archie Watson) and Tim Easterby’s pair of Hyperfocus and Snash, trained at Great Habton, also feature in a typically wide-open contest.

Only 15 horses have been declared for the race, with course officials citing a combination of reasons for the race failing to fill.

In recent years there has even been a consolation race for the highlight of Ripon’s season, but that contest has been scratched due to a lack of runners.

Ripon’s clerk of the course Hutchinson said: “The weather we’ve had is certainly a challenge, preparing the ground becomes more important than usual.

“We’ve been doing everything we can to ensure we’ve got quick, safe ground given the conditions the weather is throwing at is.

“It’s not that much of a surprise given we only had 34 entries, we’ve had 50 or 60 in more recent times which has given us enough to have the consolation race.

“It’s an overall reflection of where the industry is, the number of horses in training and the difficulty of preparing ground in the current situation.

“We water from a bore hole which is not of drinking quality, but we still need permission from the Environment Agency to do so.

“We’ve still got six exciting races on the day, we’ve our usual attractions and plenty going on. We’re sold out in the Club Enclosure but there are still tickets available.”

A total of 56 runners have been declared across Ripon’s six races, while seven-race cards at both Newmarket and Doncaster have drawn just 41 declarations apiece.

One man hoping to pick the winner of the Ripon showpiece is punter Danny Sarling who will land a £200,000 bonus from the Tote if he can.

Sarling, 52, picked all six winners at last Saturday’s Shergar Cup to land £166,000 off just a £2 stake on the Tote Scoop 6 bet. Now picking a seventh winner today will land him the huge bonus.