Equestrian
Aerial view of Lingfield Park Resort showing the all‐weather track inside the natural turf one, Marriott Hotel and golf course
periodically as they are worn out of shape. “We have fitted wheel track eradicators, which George Ash finds useful to remove compaction caused by the tractor wheels ahead of the main tines, ensuring that the surface is consistent,” says Jon.
As the first racecourse in Britain to go all‐ weather, Lingfield has a unique sharp 1m 2f left handed circuit, with a distinct camber into the back straight. A grading blade is used to redistribute material away from the inside rail, before working it deep and ‘wheeling in’ to re‐compact ahead of the Gallopmaster. This can take three to four days in total. “However, we sometimes need to work deep to break up a ‘pad’ of compacted material below the surface, and for this a Blecavator powered rotavator comes in, although we would only use it a few times a year,” comments George Hill. “The work is very hard on wearing parts, and it’s vital to keep the machinery well maintained.” Lingfield hosts an impressive fifty‐two all‐ weather meetings each year, mainly in the
winter months, whilst the all‐weather track is also used for ‘bumpers’ ‐ flat races aimed at novice horses during jump meetings. Add to this track hire for local trainers to gallop horses and conduct stalls tests, and management of the maintenance programme alone becomes quite a task ‐ one which, along with other paperwork such as race planning, keeps George Hill in the office for half his time. “I do have an assistant, but I’d rather be hands‐on,” he admits. In winter, the team are really up against it, with the short days meaning earlier starts to racing and a shorter window for grounds maintenance, plus the weather to battle. “The wax in the surface goes cold and hard and can clog the Gallopmaster, although the latest rollers are better than the original crumble bars. The only solution is to keep working it,” says Jon.
In summer, the opposite problem occurs ‐ the surface gets very hot and loose, and can cause kickback and, recently, several flat meetings have been switched to turf or
mixed cards.
“It means less preparation and watering,” explains George Hill. “On the round course, the flat and hurdle tracks share a running line, while we also have a 7.5 furlong straight dedicated to the flat. We jump from November to March, and the hurdlers are kept on the inside and outside to save ground for the turf Derby and Oaks trials in May.”
As the only UK track with flat racing on turf as well as all‐weather, plus nine jumps meetings over the winter, it sounds like George and his team have to be the ultimate multi‐taskers, but he comments that in general the three disciplines complement each other.
“Having the all‐weather for bumpers has been well received and we get good fields, as it allows trainers to avoid heavy ground in the depths of winter. We work the track a little deeper than for flat horses, and these races are first on the card, which also pushes the turf races back half an hour on a frosty
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PC APRIL/MAY 2018 I 119
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