Equestrian
An ambitious and extensive four-year programme of redevelopments at
Haydock Park Racecourse has enabled this popular northern track to offer consistently improved going throughout busy flat and national hunt seasons, enhancing the quality of racing, reports Jane Carley
A
n ambitious four-year project between 2007 and 2011, which saw the whole course redrained, and the east bend recambered and
realigned, has provided Haydock Park with two separate flat tracks, each 18m wide, so that by using exacting rail movements, fresh ground can be provided for runners at multi-day meetings. “We have thirty fixtures a year, and the track was not getting time to recover between meetings,” explains Clerk of the Course, Kirkland Tellwright. “Having two flat tracks allows us to provide improved going and to race more frequently. It has also benefitted our biggest meeting, the Betfred Sprint Cup Festival. This is held in September, by which time the track has had a lot of use, making it difficult to prepare the going, especially in poor weather. Now, the course used for the Betfred Sprint Cup will not have a horse
on it for more than a month beforehand.” He adds: “We always had good racing, but improving the going means that trainers will support us with better runners, and we can then upgrade the programme accordingly.” Haydock Park is also well known for its national hunt racing, and for fans of the great Kauto Star, will always be remembered as the place where he began his campaign for the Cheltenham Gold Cup each season, winning October’s Grade 1 Betfair Chase on no less than four occasions. “Kauto Star’s career coincided with the completion of the early stages of our redevelopment programme, and his appearances in the race were a boost for the course,” comments Kirkland. The turf was koroed off, new sand slits installed and a sand tray laid before the track was returfed using twenty metres
Haydock Park
Ambitious rebuild shows its worth
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