Aspire To Glory makes his second turf start of the summer this afternoon in the Class 6 Handicap (17:10) over a mile at Ripon. 

Read our Raceday LIVE Preview below and join us ahead of the race for all the build-up and live updates from the track with the team and Aspire To Glory's lucky owners for the day across our social channels on X (@coral) and Instagram (@coralofficial).

Raceday LIVE Preview

Aspire To Glory made his return to action at the end of last month, finishing a promising fourth at Leicester. That reappearance run marked the twelfth start for the club's gelding, but only his fourth on the turf, and considering that, as well as the 104 day layoff he had prior to the contest, it was a more than satisfactory run.

Aspire To Glory was in great form over the winter on the all-weather as he picked up a win either side of the New Year, both of which were over seven furlongs, before finishing third over the same distance in February. Trainer Alice Haynes made the decision to step him back up to a mile eleven days later following that performance, where he finished a slightly unlucky fifth, just under three lengths behind the winner.

Tommie Jakes has ridden our three-year-old in each of his last five races, however, he heads to Chelmsford for two rides this afternoon, meaning Darragh Keenan takes the reins on Aspire To Glory for the second time. The first time they partnered up, Aspire To Glory finished fifth of nine at Chelmsford, making ground on the leaders in the latter stages of the contest. 

WATCH: Aspire To Glory puts in impressive piece of work ahead of Ripon contest

Trainer Alice Haynes said in her latest update that Aspire To Glory has been impressing at home recently, and that the fact that he's been dropped a pound by the handicapper wasn't something she had expected to happen. Today's jockey Darragh Keenan has also been riding Aspire To Glory in most of his work at home in Newmarket recently, and he's been full of praise for him, saying after his most recent piece of work that he "was surprised at the rating, as he gave him the feel of a higher rated horse".

The latest ground report from Ripon Racecourse stated the ground is Good to Soft, and the forecast for the rest of the day is dry and sunny, so there shouldn't be any real concerns on that front for the club's three-year-old.

Raceday message from Alice Haynes

Good luck everyone with Aspire To Glory heading up to Ripon today. We were pleased with his return at Leicester last month as it was a sound run and would've set him up nicely for the rest of the summer.

There is a bit of a lack of pace on here on paper, so Darragh will need to keep him settled early before looking to use the speed he has shown over a furlong shorter. Should it become a dash for home then that really should come in handy.

Darragh has ridden him in his work at home and gets on with him well. He expressed surprise that he's not rated higher on the track, so he will ride him with confidence and hopefully he will be thereabouts in the finish.

Aspire To Glory's Owners for the Day

As winners of the Owner for the Day competition, 10 lucky Coral Racing Club members have been given the chance to enjoy an exclusive owners experience for Aspire To Glory's run at Leicester this afternoon.

Each winner, along with a guest of their choosing, will receive free entry to Leicester Racecourse, including exclusive access to Owners & Trainers areas. They'll have the opportunity to meet Aspire To Glory and the Alice Haynes team, plus get to head into the parade ring before the race begins to be amongst all the other owners, trainers and jockeys. And last but by no means least, each winner will get to take home an equal 10% split of any prize money won by Aspire To Glory.

Today's Class 6 contest is worth £7,000 in total, with the winner set to scoop £3,663.80 for their lucky owners.

2nd: £1,719.20 | 3rd: £858.90 | 4th: £429.80 | 5th: £214.20

Trainer and Jockey Statistics

Alice Haynes has had two winners in the last fortnight, including the winner of a listed race at San Siro in Italy last week. She's also had two Royal Ascot runners, both of whom were relatively unfancied but outran their odds. In terms of today's destination, Ripon isn't a track that Alice Haynes has gone to very often so far in her career,  but from a total of 18 runners so far, she's had three winners, four seconds and two third place finishes.

Darragh Keenan jumps onboard Aspire To Glory for the second time today, and recently he's been in fine form winning twice in the last fortnight, including a winner at Brighton on Tuesday. Keenan does have a good record at Ripon, albeit from a small sample size of three winners from ten rides, with one win from two rides coming this year.

Racing Post | Spotlight Comment on Aspire To glory

Dual 7f Polytrack scorer either side of Christmas; fewer realistic opportunities so far on turf, and last month's heavy-ground Leicester fourth (7f) may be worth marking up given the refusal to settle following a 104-day absence; enters the mix if more tractable this time; down 1lb.

Today's opposition

• Loose Tongue looks set to be at the top of the market for today's race, having won well over a mile at Chepstow last time out. Prior to that, the filly finished third in back-to-back races under the stewardship of Phil Dennis, who takes the reins today.
  
  
• Evelyn's Phoenix has form figures of 132 in his last three runs, finishing a neck clear of Mambha, one of today's rivals, in the race she was victorious in. He's been put up a total of five pounds since that victory and carries top weight in today's contest. David Allan retains the ride having been onboard in all of those last three efforts.
  
  
• Mambha has been in solid form recently, finishing second in back-to-back races in the space of ten days for trainer Michael Dods at the end of May. He's up two pounds to 59 as a result, and Connor Beasley rides her today.

   17:10 RIPON – LATEST BETTING HERE   

We hope you enjoyed reading today's Raceday LIVE Preview. Don't forget to tune in just before 17:10 to watch Aspire To Glory's next run for the club live on the Coral Sports app.