Equestrian
“
Even when I call a meeting off, I still walk the course at first race time to assure myself that I made the right decision
Good job we're not racing tomorrow. The aftermath of heavy rain a furlong from the finish
he made the decision not to order the black polypropylene covering widely used at courses to offer protection down to minus 4O
C. It’s a decision not made lightly either
way. At Plumpton, it cost the best part of £20,000 to install, taking the supplying contractor over four hours to cover the entire circuit. On the other hand, a frost postponement is a big dent in the course’s income. The contractor needs at least forty- eight hours notice to provide installation, and Mark’s anxiety grew as, just hours before his going report, temperatures began to drop, contrary to forecasts. It didn’t quite get down to freezing though, and nearly 2,500 punters had a great day’s racing. Talking to Mark about his work at
Two-hatted Mark Cornford, Clerk of the Course and Head Groundsman
Every single meeting is important to us at Plumpton, for our survival, so we try our damnedest. We’re never stupid, and would never take risks
” 86 I PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015
Plumpton, it is obvious his mantra is ‘must try and make sure I get it right’. Even when he calls a meeting off, he still walks the course at first race time to assure himself that he made the right decision. It’s no wonder that, among all the recent awards, was one for Mark himself, the Neil Wyatt Lifetime Achievement Award, which speaks for itself. As we chat, his mobile rings. The ring tone seems apt - The Rolling Stones Satisfaction. It’s not the only time I hear Mick’s voice. Mark is a busy man. “Every single meeting is important to us at
Plumpton, for our survival, so we try our damnedest. We’re never stupid, and would never take risks. The safety of horses and jockeys always comes first, but I know the ‘jocks’ appreciate that we will move heaven and earth to keep a meeting on. In last winter’s exceptional wet we did lose two race days, yet many said a personal thanks for making racing possible! I have a great relationship with them.” There’s been a Cornford family connection
at Plumpton for sixty years or more. Mark himself first joined the ground staff in1980, but he recalls his father working as a race day employee on the jumps and hurdles near the top end of the course close to the stables. “As a boy back in the sixties, I used to sit
on a pile of hay bales by the course crossing watching the horses go by; dad used to let me stand on the track for the last race when he would hold my arm and say watch ’em jump this son. He was nicknamed Corny as, strangely, were the jumps in his care. One or two locals call me Corny too.” Mark’s eldest brother Tony came to work
here when he came out of the army, as had his other elder brother Barry before him. Mark followed suit for pocket money, and holiday jobs. In his words, ‘he was always around the place’. When he was at nearby Chailey School, he used to hop out on race days to help out. He remembers how he loved the buzz of the course, and this hasn’t faded a bit. He went into engineering when he left school but, when a full-time position on the ground staff became available in May 1980, he grabbed it. He did some formal training in the early days, but has pretty much learned everything there is to know about racecourse upkeep by doing the jobs, and makes a point of saying that he still enjoys doing the ‘dirty work’ essentials. There can’t be many other Clerks of the Course that can say that. Mark had worked for a number of his Clerk
predecessors before taking up duties himself. In the old days, he says the grounds team had a manager and, together, they were the only ever-present staff on the course. The Clerk, who was very much their boss, had an office away from the course. In Plumpton’s case it was at Haywards Heath and, for a time, Fontwell Park, when it was under the same ownership. There wasn’t the close relationship between Clerk and groundstaff, as there is now at Plumpton or, for that matter, at most courses these days. In the past, a military culture and etiquette
was the way, recalls Mark, but that’s all but disappeared. “Often as not stewards were Majors, Captains or Brigadiers. It made for excellent discipline, and this is a legacy that racing can be very proud of.” When there was a vacancy at the course for a Clerk, Mark asked the then CEO if he
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