Equestrian


Best Dual Purpose Track at the Racecourse Groundstaff Awards, Carlisle Racecourse provides great racing with the work of a small grounds team, with a little help from their friends. Jane Carley reports


Groundsman) and David Robinson Carlisle Racecourse


With a little help from their friends


A


small, busy racecourse with an illustrious history, Carlisle provides high quality racing for flat and national hunt fans for eleven months of the year. The


dedication and commitment to improving the racing surface shown by its small grounds team has been rewarded with the Best Dual Purpose Track title in the RCA Racecourse Groundstaff Awards 2014, in association with Pitchcare, ALS and Watt Fences. For head groundsman Thomas Wootten,


his career path has been a natural progression - he succeeded his father two years ago and has worked at the track for fifteen years. “Racecourse Manager Geraldine McKay


98 I PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2015


had encouraged me to go on all of the training courses and to prepare for the role,” he explains. The family connection remains - although


father Tony is now retired, he is retained as one of a number of regular casuals, his speciality being verti-draining and, in recognition of his long years of service at Carlisle, the new hurdle track was named after him when it was opened in 2011. There are three full time staff including


Thomas, soon to swell to four with a new recruit joining the ranks. A team of ten regular casuals, all locals, are essential for repairing divots after racing, ready for the next meeting. With jumps racing from February to May,


Daniel Wardlow, Jim Fleming, Thomas Wootten (Head


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