Equestrian


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It’s a free draining track, and we can normally offer good ground in the winter months when other courses are wet


Flat and jumps tracks cross over each other at two points, requiring extra attention during renovation


Grand National, run over a testing 3m 6f, and the Catterick Dash at the end of the flat season. “We tend to attract a core racing crowd, although Catterick is also a good place to come for a first day’s racing as it’s not too big and daunting,” comments Fiona. The track itself is on sandy soils over gravel and, in the centre of the course where gravel was once extracted, a good sized lake now handily fulfils irrigation needs. “It’s a free draining track, and we can normally offer good ground in the winter months when other courses are wet,” comments head groundsman Ed Fenwicke- Clennell. “The downside is that it can be hard to keep moisture topped up in the summer. We are also susceptible to frost and our jump meetings take place in a period when the grass doesn’t grow!” Recovery is an ongoing challenge - there is


Clerk of the Course Fiona Needham


racing every month, with two meetings most months, and three in January, February, July, August and October. “We get a lot of runners, which is good, but that takes its toll on the turf,” he says.


“We move rail to offer fresh ground as much as possible, but there are two crossover points between the flat and national hunt tracks that get additional wear and parts of the jumps track are quite narrow.” A small area on the back straight, where


water can drain from adjacent fields, was identified as a candidate for drainage, but elsewhere sand slits are all that are needed. Which is a good job, as the entire course


has been classified as a historic site, with any excavations tightly controlled; permission from Historic England has to be sought for groundworks. Discoveries of roman artefacts during the construction of new Catterick junctions on the neighbouring A1M have led to repeated delays to that process! The flat and jump tracks are renovated at the end of their respective seasons, with a contractor brought in to overseed the turf, paying particular attention to the crossover areas.


“We apply fertiliser and then irrigate if


necessary,” explains Ed. “I use a range of seed, mainly tetraploid ryegrasses.” Good results have been achieved using


Recovery is an ongoing challenge - there is racing every month, with two meetings most months, and three in January, February, July, August and October


After several years of gravel extraction, there is now a large lake at centre course, which provides a handy source of irrigation water


102 I PC AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2017


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