Equestrian
Equipped for the job
Machinery is chosen to be as efficient as possible, whilst producing top quality results. A new Wessex RMX240 roller mower was purchased last year, and is mainly used the day before racing to stripe up the course.
Head groundsman, Mark Bemrose, explains: “The Wessex mower enables us to improve presentation for the meetings and also acts as back up to our main mower, a Jacobsen HR9016. It takes about six hours to cut the course and, in the peak season, we are mowing every other day.”
A Rink topdresser and second hand Gator have been added this year, and the latest addition to
Aerial view of Musselburgh Racecourse and part of the golf course, the new stable block (inset) and the River Esk estuary
the clerk’s training course whilst she was working in television at Racing UK and Racetech.
“I’ve always been interested in
Mark (right) with Scott Poole of Sherriff Groundcare, new Rink topdresser and John Deere 4720
the tractor fleet, a 66hp John Deere 4720 multitasks around the course.
“The 4720 is so useful,” comments Mark, “We have a loader fitted so the tractor can move material for divoting, it pulls the mower, tows the two Briggs irrigators and also handles the Moore Uni Drill, which is a heavy piece of kit.”
Overseeding is an important task - carried out in March, between the national hunt and flat seasons and again in July after the course is used for a two-day harness racing meeting.
“We have had our own grass seed mixture, prepared by local company Go Green, with 100 per cent ryegrass to give us the quick establishment needed,” Mark explains. “The harness racing tends to ‘bruise’ the grass, so we reseed again to take us through to November when we are back into the national hunt season again.”
He adds that getting specialist support from local companies is also key to making the job work - Sherriff Groundcare of Haddington, East Lothian take care of all the servicing and parts for machinery.
104 PC APRIL/MAY 2012
groundsmanship, plus I train racehorses myself, so I have a good idea of their needs. My priority is to provide fair, consistent footing for racing,” she explains. The limited space available for the course requires careful management to provide fresh ground for meetings, involving lots of rail movements, as well as moving the fences for national hunt fixtures. “A programme of investment in portable fences has seen two traditional fences replaced each year so, by 2013, they will all be portables, which can be moved in half an hour per fence,” Harriet explains. Separate courses for flat and jump meetings can ‘just about’ be maintained, she points out, which is useful given that, in 2011, the team had a one week turnaround from the flat to jumps season. “We have six weeks in the spring to prepare for the flat, which is a bit easier.” Widening the canterdown is another
improvement undertaken this year, which should help protect vital areas of racing surface by reducing footfall on the track itself.
The sandy, free draining land and low rainfall means that Musselburgh can offer good going when other courses are heavy, but the flipside to this is the need to water to maintain good-firm going for the flat. A brand new irrigation system has been installed by Souters Irrigation Services, with a new ring main, which means that sufficient water can be put on over a twelve hour period as opposed to twenty-four hours in the past.
“We should be able to water more efficiently too, putting it on in the evening or at night rather than when it is hot,” comments Harriet. The new stable complex is a major step
forward for Musselburgh, not least for safety as, previously, horses had to be led down the road from the stables to the track. Head Groundsman, Mark Bemrose, oversees part-time staff who come in to muck out after meetings, and the grounds team bring in bedding and do other chores for the stables. Sited in Musselburgh’s golf course complex, the stable development has also benefited the golfers, providing canteen facilities and a clubhouse. Groundstaff are also heavily involved in
gardening, as presentation becomes more important on racing and non-racedays, and a new winners’ podium has been created and planted up.
Much of the specialist renovation work - earthquaking and verti-draining, to make the most of any available water and encourage grass growth - is done by contractors. “We do occasionally hire this type of equipment,” she says, “but, as we have such a small staff, it makes sense to bring in a specialist. Removing compaction is an important task - the more forgiving the ground, the less risk of injuries to horses which, from my perspective as a trainer, is best for horse welfare and likely to encourage other trainers to continue to send their horses to us.”
“Vandalism can be an issue, from burning fences to breaking rails, so it is just something we have to keep an eye out for”
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