Equestrian
All groundsmen look after their own machinery, so good manufacturer and dealer back-up is essential
Horses for courses
Grand National racegoers enjoying a drink in the smart indoor bar near the winning post might be surprised to know that underneath their feet is a high tech equestrian surface used for show jumping and dressage for the rest of the year.
Aintree Equestrian Centre has a 70 x 30m main competition arena, a 55 x 20m warm up area with Andrews Bowen Pro-Wax surfaces, large viewing areas and the requisite judges and officials facilities. Used for competitions (including an international amateurs and veterans showjumping tournament) and private hire, it benefits from the use of 160 racecourse stables and extensive all-weather parking.
The arena surfaces can be covered with slot-in plastic floors, which allow the centre to be used as a venue for a range of other events from craft fairs to weddings, plus its transformation to a hospitality facility for the Grand National meeting.
Mark and his team maintain the surfaces, whilst contractors look after the equestrian infrastructure, such as the show jumps and dressage arenas.
The home straight, which has benefited from new pop-up irrigators at the last two fences
With horse welfare in mind, a special washdown area has been created near the finish with an Andrews Bowen synthetic surface allowing all horses to be washed and cooled in safety. Using his three-day eventing contacts, Andrew borrows special cooling fans commissioned for the London Olympics, and the water is pre-cooled as it comes from the boreholes.
The 2013 race was regarded as critical, because of pressure from animal welfare campaigners. Happily, there were fewer problems. Jockeys reported that, whilst there were still fallers, horses that made slight mistakes were able to recover. With the winner, Aurora’s Encore, trained by sporting favourite Harvey Smith and his wife Sue, the tabloid headlines were made by happy stories.
All hands on deck.
On Grand National day, the Aintree grounds team numbers 225 people - on a normal raceday there are forty, of which six are full time.
The ‘big event’ team includes nine head groundsmen from other courses, three clerks of course to support Andrew, fifteen vets, thirty-five medics and fifty treaders-in, who repair the course after each day’s racing, ready for the next day. Whilst Aintree has its own veterinary hospital, Liverpool University’s world renowned Leahurst Veterinary Hospital is also on hand and, for human
casualties, Fazakerley Hospital, just minutes away, has a specialist neurological unit. The six groundsmen and two
greenkeepers employed full time are very loyal to Aintree. Stanley Walsh has been at the course the longest, starting some forty years ago at the age of sixteen as a farmhand on the Topham family’s estate. “They are all multitaskers. As well as the racecourse, we look after the gardens and the equestrian centre, and staff can work at other courses in the group, such as Haydock and Cheltenham, so there are lots of opportunities,” explains Mark. “Most of the course renovations were done in-house and the team enjoy project work.”
“Staff need to be dedicated because we work long hours in all weathers,” comments Andrew. “During the preparations for our December meeting, there were such high winds that they had to replace the spruce on the fences at the last minute. But we are fortunate that most of the team are locals, so they understand the importance of the Grand National and share our passion for it.”
Making best use of machinery and materials
With sandy loam soils over free draining sand, Mark must be the envy of many waterlogged groundsmen this winter but, as he points out, the ground dries out badly for summer racing, making irrigation vital. He is also careful to look after the soil. “We use LGP tyres on everything, and
keep tractors off the course in winter to avoid compaction. Mowing is carried out with two John Deere wide area mowers in the winter whilst, in summer, we take the running rail out and use a 15ft tractor mounted Progressive mower.” Jockey Club Racecourses has just
entered the second term of a preferred supplier agreement with John Deere, after putting machinery supply out to tender. “We looked at other suppliers, but we felt that John Deere offered the best package of equipment and back-up,” comments Andrew. “If you look at other racecourses, you will see a wide variety of machinery colours but, here, everything
114 PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014
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