Equestrian
he one mile four furlong course at Brighton is one of only four in the whole country that is not a circuit. It’s in good company, because the others are Epsom, Goodwood and Newmarket. It’s actually said to run very like the Derby course and be a fast one too. In the 50s and 60s, trials of the top classic were held there to bear out it’s worth as a top track. As Ed Arkell emphasises, Brighton does roll about quite a bit and it’s a real test for horses. It dries out quickly as well so, often as not, it does offer a speedy surface. Ed, and Brighton’s Head
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Groundsman, Richard Langley, share the declared aim of making sure this horseshoe-shaped course is always safe, even if fast. For both of them, race day is long, very long, especially when it’s an evening meeting like this one. The season at Brighton begins in April. The May Madness evening meeting, the second of eighteen between then and mid-October, was an intriguing invitation to this novice race goer, and not just to sample the tribute band.
Approaching the course, which is on high ground to the east of what is now the City of Brighton, it looks marvelously green, testament to the unceasing spring rain. It’s early, very early, but I can make out two figures slowly, deliberately edging down the hill towards the grandstand. Ed and Richard are walking the course, as they do often and as race day demands on this particular occasion.
“On race day we always walk the course at six,” says Ed. “I have to ring what’s called the ‘going line’ at 6.30am. It’s a must-do.”
The going-line is a Racecourse Association service, which collates all the up-to-the-minute information on course conditions for race meetings on any particular day. It then fires out a press release to all interested media, so everyone with even the slightest interest knows what’s in store for all the horses running that day - at least in terms of turf.
We last featured Clerk of the Course, Ed Arkell, in charge of the National Hunt course at Fontwell Park. For over half the
year, his attention – or at least some of it – switches to the flat. The other course in his care is Brighton.
Neville Johnson went there in early May to get the feel of what race day can be all about when it comes to the turf’s turf.
“I then have to update the Racing Administration website,” adds Ed. “Trainers, jockeys and everyone involved in the business of racing has access to this. It’s a bible, and one-stop shop for information, if you like, on all there is to know about meetings for the coming ten days.”
The last stage of this before-breakfast admin was to send a personal text to all the trainers who had a horse running that evening, telling them about going, weather and any watering they might have had to do. This isn’t a ruling by the racing authorities, it’s a policy of course owners, Northern Racing, a personal touch and sound PR that does nothing but good, Ed emphasises. Northern is pretty much the biggest course owning name in UK horse racing, especially since its merger, earlier this year, with Arena, which brought major tracks like Lingfield, Doncaster and Wolverhampton under its wing. For head groundsman Richard, race day is mostly a matter of keeping a close watchful eye on things. During racing itself that means being stationed at the 2-furlong mark, poised, in the worst case scenario, to stop the race. That rarely happens, but racing is a dangerous sport and conditions are sometimes out of the hands of even the best groundsman. Richard, who worked previously at
Wolverhampton and Kempton Park, points out that Brighton is a course with microclimates, especially in spring. Wind, visibility and surface conditions can vary considerably from one part of the horseshoe course to another. Frost pockets are a particular hazard. There aren’t many courses where road conditions are within a racecourse groundsman’s remit either but, at Brighton, Richard has two on his race day agenda. Wilson Avenue, near the six furlong start, and Manor Hill, slap in the middle of the after the post run-off, have to be covered with coconut matting prior to the first ‘off ’ until the finish of the last race, and overlaid with two inches of fresh grass cuttings for each of
Walking the course at dawn, the Clerk of the Course and the Head Groundsman JUNE/JULY 2012 PC 107
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