“Under a genial sky with pretty women, good luncheon and good sport”


Anonymous quotation, Sandown Park 1879


NNING DOWN


enthusiasm for the sport, an essential requirement” he says. His full time staff of eleven are boosted at the main maintenance period in March-April by around ten contracted in staff. Racecourse turf


management is beset with problems, especially at an ‘all year’ racing venue such as this, with maybe up to seventy five horses competing at each meeting and multiple circuits of the course with perhaps eight horses per race. The wear and tear factor is enormous with approximately thirty racing events a year taking place in all weathers. By March time the course is all but worn out with very little grass cover and appalling surface damage to contend with. A seven week main renovation interval is all that is availabe prior to Sandown’s biggest meeting of the year, The Gold Cup, a two day event at the end of April.


Initial renovation work is mainly by hand and very labour intensive. It entails replacing divots and then levelling the churned up surface with light harrowing and rolling with a Cambridge roller, followed by slitting. This takes approximately two weeks out of the seven allowed for renovation work. Naturally this leaves desperately little time for seeds to germinate let alone put down roots and establish. The seeding operation


takes place using a Charterhouse slit seeder and by hand fork, applying 35g per square metre of straight Perennial Ryegrass over much of the 17 hectare racing surface. After seeding, a granular fertiliser, usually 15.5.10 analysis, is applied at 30g per square metre, before covering up to one mile of the track for five weeks with germination membrane sheeting.


Once the grass has established reasonably, a


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