The job of grounds maintenance comes with differing responsibilities - arguably the most significant for mixed racing is preparing the jumps
we consistently use are a 9:7:7 spring fertiliser around April time, a 12:6:6 through the summer months and a 3:12:12 fertiliser through the autumn and winter.”
Being blessed with extremely good topsoil, that’s been established for more than 100 years, means the course suffers from few weed problems, ensuring that spraying is kept to a minimum, he adds. A seven-strong grounds team is
Despite such unprecedented weather
recently and the still bleak economic climate, Andy believes the racing industry remains relatively healthy. Folkestone’s fixture list numbers twenty- two race meets a season, an average number for a dual-purpose, National Hunt and flat course”, with a calendar that includes one-day, evening, and high profile events such as the Kent National, and the annual United Hunts meeting. The switch from National Hunt to flat is the indicator for many courses to start, or adjust, their year-round maintenance programme, he continues, and Andy insists that April is the best time to think about laying the foundations for the summer season of flat racing. “I don’t do anything religiously,” he
reveals, “only applying fertilisers when called for, with maintenance tending to follow a ‘little and often’ approach, depending on the weather.” Success in this job is based largely on
“keeping up to date with weather patterns and knowing the right things to do at the right times. The only products
100
charged with keeping the course in fine fettle. Behind every good team leader is often an indispensable ‘right hand man’ and, in Andy’s case, it is Assistant Estates Manager, Richard Hall (Taff to his friends) - the sites resident gardening specialist - and senior groundsman, Nigel Barton - a man with more than thirty years turfcare experience. Two of the other five valuable team members are on permanent part-time contracts, explains Andy. The job of grounds maintenance comes with differing responsibilities - arguably the most significant for mixed racing is preparing the jumps. Before each winter season, seven jumps and five flights of hurdles need to be prepared, all of which the team constructs from bundles of birch. “Nigel is highly experienced in preparing them, states Andy, “as he’s been doing that job for most of his career.” The jumps are assembled as a unit in solid oak frames that are expected to last anywhere from twenty to thirty years.
“Each season, new bundles of birch are built into the frame and trimmed to a height of 4’ 7”,” Andy continues, “with the aprons constructed and kicking rails finally attached at the end before being assessed by a Jockey Club inspector for their quality, along with the rest of the course and facilities.” The yearly maintenance programme starts in spring with the team overseeding the course, a process
dependant largely on how much damage there has been through the jump-racing season, explains Andy. “We treat maintenance as an ongoing
process through the summer months, using a little and often approach as the focus, watering when we need to. Having an abstraction licence means we can pump water into our reservoir throughout the winter, giving enough to take us through even the driest of summers, hopefully. By using a towline irrigation system, attached to the mains and extracted from the reservoir, we have the ability to pump a depth of 6-7mm of water across the whole course in half an hour.”
Although it’s irrigation that presents Andy with one of his biggest continuing headaches, “other things crop up that throw a spanner in the works and mean you have to constantly think on your feet”. “The snow in early January has been one of these, and there hasn’t been much that most racecourses have been able to do to prevent cancellations. We’ve tried to keep off the course as much as we can and removed any persistent build-up of snow but, as far as covering the course is concerned, there hasn’t been much we can do.”
“Fleece or frost protection coverings
are available and many of the high profile or larger budget courses do have them but, for us or other smaller ones, it simply wouldn’t be financially viable as we couldn’t guarantee seeing a cost benefit.” Folkestone’s racing turf is
predominantly ryegrass and Andy overseeds with the same species - “in my experience, it is one of the more hardy species and gives the best colour. It’s important for racecourses to have hardwearing turf, and most have moved away from turf with finer grass species,” states Andy.
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