Equestrian
Every racecourse groundsman’s favourite job
Charlie Moore - experience counts for everything
Whilst serving in the Army, Charlie rode as an amateur, winning sixteen point to points and two races under rules, including the final win for 1976 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Ten Up. He also rode in three-day events, and with team chasing champions the Boring Gorings, so he is an all-round horseman.
In 1989 he left the Army and became Clerk of the Course at Market Rasen, Nottingham and Doncaster, before taking up a role as the Racecourse Holdings Trust/Jockey Club Group Racing Executive.
After a stint at Towcester he joined Northern Racing in November 2001, where he worked as Clerk at many of their courses, starting with Uttoxeter, and became involved in the training of Clerks. Lisa Rowe, who was Clerk at Warwick before becoming managing director at Newmarket and is now chief executive of the Injured Jockeys Fund, is one of his most high profile protégés.
He returned to Uttoxeter in 2010, replacing Keith Ottesen who is now Clerk at Chepstow and Hereford, and comments: “I trained Keith and then waited until he had found another opportunity to return to my favourite racecourse, which is in a beautiful part of the world. People ask ‘what would you like to be doing in five years’ time?’, and my answer is always to be doing this. I get to work with a fantastic group of people in an ever- changing environment.”
108 PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2012
including all the David Austin Molineux roses around the parade ring, which sits in a cold hollow. This area was frozen for three weeks solid, with temperatures down to minus 18O
C.”
Uttoxeter was the only racecourse in the Northern Racing group to race in December 2010 with its New Year’s Eve meeting, although the loss of the Christmas meeting illustrates the challenge for groundstaff. “We had covered the course so were
ready to go, but were just about to uncover when the snow started to fall and we had to abandon. But the covers then stayed on until Thursday 30th when we had to take them off to allow any frost to thaw, and New Year’s Eve went ahead. Then, on January 29th, we removed the covers on the morning of the meeting and the temperature subsequently dropped to minus 5O
had them on, we were able to race.” Some covers are hired in from Sports Stadia Ltd, who supply the labour to lay and lift them, easing the pressure on the groundstaff. Uttoxeter also has its own fleece covers and two of the stables have been deployed to store them. “Being able to protect the course is a
real step forward,” comments Charlie. “It doesn’t always allow you to race, but increases the chances and, more importantly, allows an earlier decision, which is better for the trainers and for the public. The bad winter in 2009/10 woke everyone up to the potential of using covers, and by last winter we were all more prepared.”
As the course sits in the Dove Valley, with one stream running alongside and another through the centre, an ongoing drainage programme has been instigated, and irrigation rejigged - in the 1980s it was notoriously wet. “We put a lot of water on in the summer. As the home straight slopes away from the grandstand, it runs down the hill to the back straight which was always wet, so we cut down the irrigation in this area and have addressed the
Whitemoss topdressing
drainage,” explains Charlie. Over the past ten years, contractor John Mallinson has installed sand slits over the lateral drains at 2m centres and, in 2011, the entire course was dressed with 685 tonnes of sand to help the drainage and increase surface stability. The next phase will see more sand slits added to reduce the intervals to 1m. “Time and cost restrictions meant starting off at 2m centres, but this has been very effective, so we want to enhance it with the narrower spacings. In early October 2010, we had 30mm of rain on the day of racing and still raced.” All major works have to be slotted in between the end of July and the beginning of September, when racing does not take place and, given time for recovery, this effectively means a two week window.
C. But, because we’d
Overseeding is shoehorned into another short gap in the programme - ideally this would be after the Betfred Midlands National, but the low soil temperatures mean that April is a better bet. “We like Barenbrug Bar Sprint, because it germinates well in winter and has proved very reliable. But, the divot mix is also significant in promoting regrowth - the Whitemoss organic mix is very productive, with good germination and minimal kickback.” The biggest task in preparation for each meeting is moving miles of running rail to provide fresh ground. “You can do it with two men, but they know they’ve done it at the end of the day! Three is better,” comments head groundsman Rob Massey. “We also have to move the fences laterally across the course to the new running line, so having Turf Services to look after the divoting is vital.”
Expenditure on machinery has been
restricted in the current financial climate, so meticulous care of kit, under the guidance of deputy head groundsman and ‘machinery mastermind’ Richard Beech, is the responsibility of each
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