Equestrian
A combination of 60mm of rain on Christmas Day and floodwater washing down from the Yorkshire Dales meant that Wetherby’s valuable Boxing Day meeting was abandoned due to waterlogging
“We used to get a lot of snow and ice, now it’s just wet all year round!” His experience, along with
that of Ian Foster and Neal Kidd, proves vital to the day to day running of the racecourse, but new blood is also welcomed. Apprentice Marcus Andrews joined the team in October, studying a level two qualification at nearby Askham Bryan College. The team is completed by stable manager Les Frost and gardener Sam Glover.
With 180 acres of grass to
care for, including the car parks, there is little downtime, although Jonjo ensures that as well as accommodating staff holidays in late summer before the jumps season starts in October, there’s a month’s gap between meetings in March. “It’s needed - to rest staff and
to rest the ground. You can’t just go straight through.” Preparations for the new
jumps season start in earnest on 1st June. Until last year, this included engaging contractors for the renovation works on the new section of the track, but now it can be managed as a whole.
The sward is cut back through the summer and scarified with a spring tine harrow before any bare areas are overseeded and topdressed. Backfilling with a Mansfield Sand soil/sand mix and rolling to level the track is also done at this time. Fence repairs are another summer job - three of the nine steeplechase fences are renovated each year and the hurdles need constant attention. Gill and Punter portable steeplechase fences can be moved to fresh ground in a wet winter and were specified to match the permanent obstacles in the back straight, praised by jockeys for being ‘inviting’ to the horses.
A slow release 12:6:10
Www.fornells.com
Fornells 10100 Running Rail
Fornells 10108 Running Rail
Crowd Barrier & Gates
UK Distributers of Fornells Products 01748822666 / 07966529666
www.wattfences.com billwattfences@aol.com
High quality national hunt racing has always been Wetherby's trademark; now it has been joined by popular flat meetings
PC APRIL/MAY 2016 I 93
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