“Some groundsmen I’ve spoken to recently have moved away from gang mowers to more dedicated machines, but the gangs, combined with the Lastec, works well for our needs”


know their own areas and the course as a whole perhaps even better than someone who comes in a few times in a season.” “We are “lucky” to enjoy what is a “uniform” course on the whole - one largely free of particularly problematic areas,” Nigel adds. It is nature that has traditionally


thrown up the biggest problems though. Chafer grubs have been the cause of two race cancellations, he reveals. By eating tuft roots, they cause the surface to loosen – potentially catastrophic to the horses. Fox damage is another nagging concern. “The Derby start is our worst-hit area. It’s the furthest point of the course with trees lining the track and a place where foxes populate. They’ve caused us real


headaches by digging up the course,” Nigel recalls.


In the Derby run-up, Nigel walks the course at least daily for two weeks to gain “a good estimate” of how much water is needed to achieve a good going. This is especially crucial if May has been a dry month, he says, yet for the last three years the opposite has proved to be the case, and this year is predicted to be similarly bereft of rain.


Long hours are the order of the day as the Derby meeting arrives. “On the Friday evening after Ladies Day we move a mile of rail out eight yards to allow a fresh strip of grass for the horses,” explains Nigel. “We repair divots using a 50-50 Mansfield sand divot mix, finishing


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