FLEMINGTON Turfing
Our guest Australian correspondent, BRUCE STEPHENS, reports on the
racetrack reconstruction of one of his country’s most famous
sporting venues, Flemington Racecourse.
As the Manager of Anco Seed and Turf, the company that was contracted to grow and lay the unique grass combination used
on the track and lawns, Bruce has a long history and affinity for
Australian Racing’s hallowed turf. Having grown up nearby he
attended Flemington High School, located within the grounds of Flemington, and worked for a
bloodstock agency that provided stabling for hundreds of horses during the 1974 flood disaster that hit the track.
HORSE Racing in Australia is a major part of the country’s Turfgrass Industry. In the state of Victoria alone there are 69 grass tracks and premier amongst them is the famous Flemington, nestled close to the city of Melbourne. Flemington hosts a four day racing carnival each spring with the major event being the Melbourne Cup. First run in 1861 ‘The Cup’, as it is affectionately known, has been run on the first Tuesday in November ever since. The enormity and tradition of the event is evidenced by the Government granting a public holiday each year for the residents of Melbourne to mark the race that stops the nation. Australia comes to a standstill, including its Federal Parliament, as it listens to and watches the Cup.
Attendance for the Melbourne Cup usually exceeds 100,000, with almost 400,000 attending the four day racing extravaganza spread over a week. In recent years international trainers have tried their luck against the antipodean equine stars with only three being lucky enough to greet the judge in first place, including the 2006 winner from Japan, Delta Blues. Following the 145th running of the
Cup in November 2006, the Victoria Racing Club embarked upon the first major track reconstruction of Flemington since the course was changed to its current shape in 1859. The track reconstruction was just part of an overall revamp to the course that included the building of new horse stalls, a tunnel to connect the parade ring to the mounting yard and a flood wall to protect the track from any flooding of the Maribyrnong River that runs alongside the back of the course. In May 1974 the course was completely under water and horses that were stabled at the track had to be hastily relocated to a nearby bloodstock agent’s stable facility until the flood subsided. The A$10 million track reconstruction commenced with a road profiler stripping the top off the old track down to a depth of 500mm. A new base was then created by using some of the old sand combined with lime and cement to provide a firm base. The old track had a crown in the
centre of the straight six furlong chute providing some drainage, and this has been changed to a one way crossfall. Terry Watson, the track manager, believes that Straight Six races
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