Newcastle Racecourse Equestrian
A course for all seasons
Newcastle Racecourse has successfully launched its new all- weather track at its biggest flat race meeting of the year, but it is just part of a substantial workload that requires the ultimate in teamwork, reports Jane Carley
E Estate Manager Jon Newton 102 I PC AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015
mbracing change and moving forward with one of the most ambitious developments in racing is a challenge that has brought the grounds team at High Gosforth
Park even closer together. Working to manage an 800 acre estate with Newcastle Racecourse at its heart, Clerk of the Course James Armstrong, Estate Manager Jon Watson and Head of Grounds Mark Ryan also have responsibility for the public Parklands Golf Club, plus large areas of woodland and park. The last twelve months has seen the
development of a new all-weather Tapeta race track at Newcastle, an impressive £12 million project which marks a step change in all-weather racing in Britain. Rather than installing a standard flat oval
track on which to stage run-of-the-mill racing, the team at Newcastle, and its
owners Arena Racing Company (ARC), have retained the natural undulations of the turf track that it replaced, following the full 1m 6f circuit and including a straight mile - the only one on the all-weather anywhere in the world. The new track would also have a baptism
of fire when hosting Newcastle’s iconic Northumberland Plate just a month after opening. This two mile heritage handicap, offering a prize fund of £150,000, attracts runners from across the UK and Ireland and traces its history back to 1833 when it was run on Newcastle’s Town Moor, before being transferred to High Gosforth Park in 1882. “There was some negative feeling when
we announced our plans,” admits James Armstrong, “but the 2016 Northumberland Plate featured runners who are regulars in turf races, not just ‘all-weather’ horses, and
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156