recently is, in part, due to the impact of wise investments in measures that have potentially saved the course thousands of pounds in lost revenue. Taking pride of place among them is the Blotter. “We’ve only had to use the machine a couple of times since the purchase, but it has already saved us at least one race, so we’ve recouped our outlay already,” Jeremy states. Jeremy purchased the £22,000 machine in spring 2008 on a three-year payback plan and it first came into its own that summer. “The rain bucketed down two days before a Saturday race meeting in the middle of July, which followed an intensive period of three other meets,” Jeremy recalls. “Grounds generally struggle with the wet when they have been raced on intensely over a short period but, with the aid of the Blotter, we managed to prepare the course for racing with a good surface.” Salisbury Racecourse is an undulating one, built on a well-structured shallow, sandy clay loam on chalk. Given the increasingly unpredictable weather in recent years, especially the spells of torrential rain through summer months, temporary ponding has become an occupational hazard – one confined to the Wiltshire site. “We can no longer afford to wait for water to disperse like we might have done in the past,” declares Jeremy, “and can now go straight out there with the Blotter and put the control back into our hands, so we do not have to be so dependant on the weather to help us out – which it rarely does anyway.” He first heard about the Blotter’s benefits during the particularly wet summer of 2007 when York Racecourse hired one. “The story of its success was relayed to us after being told that it had saved a race meeting. We decided to bring one down for a demo after having lost a few meetings between 2005 and 2007. It was a pricey purchase, but worth it as we can lose so much when a race meet is cancelled.” A couple of areas of the course are prone to becoming heavy and wet,
The Racecourse Groundstaff Awards are sponsored by
10
Jeremy explains - in the dip at two and a half furlongs and behind the seven furlong start - particularly towards the end of the season. Ensuring that surface water doesn’t sit there for long has been a major concern for the grounds team. “When you lose a race meeting, particularly when you abandon on the day of racing, you still have to honour your commitments to suppliers and contractors, which will mean paying them regardless,” he says, adding firmly: “It would only be extremely bad luck for us to lose a race meeting now, and torrential rain would have to fall on previously very soft ground, which would make the Blotter unable to cope in those conditions.”
Shifting water off a racing surface is a
key factor in managing any racecourse, another equally crucial one is to ensure the appropriate quantity is retained to create optimum race conditions to. Richard Hayter is of the firm belief
that irrigation should be done only when it’s needed, and stresses that an ‘old hand’ can almost divine when that is. “The trick is not to let the grounds get too hard. If we have a dry and hot forecast in the run-up to a race, we’ll often start the watering process ten days beforehand to give the course four or five applications. Ultimately, the weather dictates, so we make sure we stay on top of the forecasts.”
Salisbury pumps water from its
borehole to an above-ground 35,000- gallon capacity reservoir using the system that contractors MJ Abbott installed in 2001.
“Over ten years ago we decided to invest in a new irrigation system as ours was simply not up to the job,” says Jeremy. “We had a combination of tow line watering and a boom which really wasn’t very good, so we decided to buy a Briggs system in 2004 and also alter some of the hydrant points at the same time.”
Using the Briggs irrigation boom, the team have the capacity to apply 10mm of water on the course in two, seven-hour, working days. It had taken up to a week,
says Richard. “We could water in a day if we wanted to, especially in the summer when there’s more daylight and when irrigation is usually more important,” adds Jeremy.
Salisbury’s evolving watering practices have changed the nature of the original downland grass species over the years. The course currently comprises 97% ryegrass with a small percentage of Yorkshire fog, annual meadow grass, narrow leaf fescue and bent. A wider variety of seed is used for some jobs, notably as part of post-race repairs to the course. “Our divot mixes depend on what our suppliers Rigby Taylor recommend,” says Richard - “we usually go for their own specific racecourse mix.” “We are lucky to have a particularly thick sward, which alleviates the need for much overseeding. We will try to hollow tine at the same time as we vertidrain though - which we planned to do in November if conditions allowed, which usually means no damper than good ground.” Jeremy flicks through the latest report on the course from Salisbury’s agronomists - Professional Sportsturf Design - to reveal that “The soil is of a slightly acidic nature”. “All racecourses
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