Equestrian
S
andown Park is a true all purpose track, with its flagship Bet365 Gold Cup Festival in April hosting flat and jump races on the same card, and all courses
converging onto one hardworking home straight. Therefore, presenting optimum going for both flat and national hunt horses is a major challenge for Estate Manager, Craig Williamson, and his eleven-man team. “The course is quite narrow, especially in the back straight, so it takes quite a lot of planning to accommodate chase, hurdle and flat races,” Craig explains. “Watering is especially complex to meet the different going requirements. In 2011, the dry spring meant that we had to water the flat track for the Gold Cup Festival, where it is usually only the jumps tracks.”
The running rail is moved for every meeting, and even between race days at a
two-day fixture to give fresh ground and avoid poaching. “This means that, in February, we are racing on ground last used in November, so it is level and there may even be some grass growth, although this winter we have had growth everywhere. It has been unbelievable - we were mowing until December and started again at the end of January!” When Craig moved to Sandown Park
from Worcester in 2000, a drainage programme was about to get underway. “It was much needed - we lost the first five meetings after I started! Sandown Park used to be renowned for being wet,” he comments.
The installation took four years to complete, but has proved worthwhile, with waterlogging no longer an issue. However, Craig suggests that drainage schemes need careful monitoring and maintenance. “The home straight drains to an ancient spring fed pond which has been
here since the site was a monastery, and the outlet needs regular cleaning to avoid silting up.” With a high proportion of sand, especially on the back straight, watering is an important task, with the irrigation system updated in 2008 to utilise three Briggs boom irrigators. “This gives us peace of mind that we can get the water on, with just one operator and myself - as I live on site, I do a lot of the out of hours watering,” Craig comments. “We do still use tow line irrigation on the bends as they are too tight for the Briggs, but it is a much more accurate system altogether.” Water is sourced from the mains, although a small borehole was dug when drought threatened supplies a few years ago, and provides an additional source. Mowing takes place three times a week, and Sandown Park has recently purchased a Toro R3240T ride-on, backed up for areas such as the grass car
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