The going for the course is maintained between good and good to soft
winter months.
Simon and his team all have qualifications in turfcare and understand the needs of the horse racing industry. All are multi-skilled and able to carry out any of the jobs required on the course as and when required, including grass mowing, fertilising, watering, moving rails/fences, renovating, divoting and reseeding. Within the team there are two staff,
Keith Jones and John Close, who are dedicated to undertaking all the fence maintenance and repairs. There are twenty four chase, eleven hurdle and over thirty cross country fences to look after. Once the season has finished in May they begin the task of completely stripping and rebuilding twelve of the fences, with a further twelve being replaced on a rotation basis each year. Over 9,000 bundles of birch materials are used.
THE Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt Race run over three miles and two and half furlongs (5,331 metres) with the horses having to negotiate twenty two fences that include four open ditches, two water jumps and sixteen plain fences. The plain fences are 4ft 7in high and have a span of 6ft, open ditch fences are 4ft 7in high with a 9ft span and water jumps are 3 ft 3in high with a 12ft span.
The width of all the fences has been
increased to 60ft. Horse and rider safety is paramount and, by altering the position of the rails, fresh ground can be made available for each day of racing. All the chase fences, with the exception of the 14th, are permanently sited. Fence 14 has, in the past, been the cause of a higher than average number of fallers; being portable allows the Director of Racing to locate it in the safest possible position to suit the conditions.
During my visit, Richard Linley, the national inspector of racecourses from the Horseracing Regulatory Authority (HRA), was on site meeting with Simon and Anthony to decide the final position of the 14th fence and some of the hurdles for the Festival. Further inspections are undertaken by
Richard in the lead up to the meeting to ensure the track is in pristine condition and safe for racing; all the fences are regularly checked with particular attention paid to the take off and landing areas, ensuring they are stable and safe. Kevin and John have to keep a careful eye out for any sub surface damage caused by rabbits.
The condition of the course is constantly monitored; the soil at Cheltenham is a sandy clay loam averaging 150 mm in depth over a blue clay sub soil. The going for the course is maintained between good and good to
Raising the bar…
Trimax lifted the bar 12 years ago with the original Stealth, setting a new standard in rotary wing mowers. Trimax are raising it again with the release of Stealth Series 2.
In keeping with the company’s policy of continuous improvement the new StealthS2 now features full width striping, infinitely variable height adjustment and downward wing float. Not to mention Trimax’s new LazerBladez™
cutting system.
For more information or to arrange a demonstration of just how high that bar is. Contact:
Trimax Mowing Systems UK TEL 01933 652235 or EMAIL
info@trimaxmowers.co.uk
www.trimaxmowers.com professional tractor mounted mowing equipment TMX1089/TP 35
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