Circuit ...
Mark’s pride in his team is matched by his undoubted enthusiasm for his award winning racecourse. Although, as he explained, it hasn’t always been so well maintained. With a subsoil of Sussex clay, the removal of surface water has always been a major problem, causing unpredictable and, sometimes, variable underfoot going conditions. “In the second half of the seventies, just before I joined Plumpton, the course had some drainage work carried out around the bottom bend and the back straight hill,” explained Mark. “This made a great improvement in these areas and, indeed, there was every intention to carry out more. Unfortunately, a period of what could only be called “standing still” followed with little, if no, investment in course drainage work undertaken.”
The lack of investment meant meetings were lost, season after season, to wet weather. “In particular, the pinch point area in front of the grandstands was often deemed unraceable, when most other parts were fine,” recalled Mark. “There was also a bad winter in the 80s when we lost all our January and February meetings to frost.”
The change for the better took place in 1998 when new owners with new management came onto the scene. The course was purchased by Peter Savill and Captain Adrian Pratt, and plans were set in place to upgrade all areas of the course, including buildings and track. Impressive entrance gates and signage were installed to kick start the new era. “Work started immediately,” explained Mark. “Drainage work to the majority of the home straight, including in front of
the grandstands, began after our last meeting of that season in early May.” “I remember meeting the new Clerk of the Course, David McHarg, in late June. I was able to show off the newly drained area front of the stands, which was already well into recovery, and proudly declared that we should not lose a meeting due to waterlogging on this part of the track. And, to this day, we haven’t.” With this positive, refreshing attitude, Plumpton’s development continued apace with drainage improvements undertaken annually. Over the following years work to the hill top of home straight, the exit to the top bend, the start of the back straight and the entire hurdle side of back straight hill, have all been carried out. “We undertook all the drainage work
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