Equestrian “
We never dreamt it would be us. I still can’t believe the words; ‘there can only be one winner. Plumpton.’ In the midst of everyone representing all fifty-nine UK courses, including the likes of Ascot and Cheltenham, it seemed unreal
The first big meeting of the year, the
Sussex National, had been successfully staged the previous Sunday, but it was just days before the next meeting, one of three billed in January. It’s the wettest day of the winter so far. Twenty-nine millimeters of rain had fallen on the course in a couple of hours. We chatted undercover overlooking the finishing post. “If I was doing my ‘stick and feet’ duty
now, it would quickly become an inspection, with the ground waterlogged and unraceable; going reports reflect the conditions you have, with one eye on the forecast, to relay to connections the
possibility of any further changes.” For the record, on the following Monday
the six-race Timeform meeting went ahead, with the going heavy. Thankfully, postponements are rare at
Plumpton these days! Every race day, whilst still doing his very early morning course walk, Mark makes his phone call to the RCA going line with his assessment of conditions, so that Talk Sport and other on-air media can broadcast the information before 7.00am.
“In the old days, you used to have to call upon the Chairman of Stewards for on the day decisions about whether to race or not.
The rules changed and, these days, the buck stops firmly with the Clerk of the Course, though you can still call in a steward for advice if there is serious doubt either way.” “I can’t deny that, some days, it is a
responsibility that weighs heavily. It affects many people who depend on a day’s racing, and I don’t always sleep easy the night before a meeting. Nevertheless, I love every minute of it.” Frost is a real villain of the piece for any
racecourse, and Plumpton, being so open, is at risk. Mark says reliable indications were that there would be no frost for the big Sussex National meeting on 4th January, so
PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015 I 85
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