Ripon finds novel way to bring racing back in Britain ahead of schedule

As punters familiarise themselves with new delights like Angers and Toulouse, there will be one familiar track in action on Tuesday, with Britain's garden racecourse Ripon staging a race with a difference.

In an entrepreneurial move Lord Sugar would be proud of, the track will be staging the Ripon Winter Dash. An eight-runner contest, the Dash will take place at 4pm live on Twitter and Facebook, with the plastic competitors flying home over a piece of A2 paper.

Each runner will have their number written on six different cards. The cards will then be shuffled, and the first number drawn out six times will be first past the post.

Judging by some bumps in the paper, every effort has been made to replicate Ripon's undulations, and it will be interesting to see if those drawn closer to the stands' side will be favoured, as often happens in sprints on the turf course.

All winners will receive a club badge to a meeting of their choice, and marketing manager Jonathan Mullin, the founder of the race, said: "It’s nice to offer a little bit of light relief amid the doom and gloom.

"My daughter was playing with her little stable of toy horses on Saturday and I just thought it might be a fun thing to do. I remember playing a board game called 'And They’re Off' as a kid, and this will work along similar lines. . .in theory!

"It seems to have taken off a bit on social media so we might end up giving away more badges than we had originally planned, but it’s worth it if we can bring a little bit of fun to the racing community at this time and, who knows, we might even be able to engage with a wider audience through it."

Get exclusive insight from the track and live tipping with Raceday Live - our up-to-the-minute service on racingpost.com and the Racing Post mobile app