EQUESTRIAN
Teamwork to the fore in the heat
Racecourse groundsmen have the added task of helping with horse welfare in hot weather, providing and often applying buckets and buckets of water to overheated equines.
“We normally have one groundsman stationed in the winners’ enclosure to help cool down horses, but this summer we’ve had two,” explains Eloise. “Both are interested in horses, so can quickly spot if a runner is in distress. We had one horse overheat in July, and it was wonderful how well everyone responded to help it - even the medics were ferrying water! The horse recovered quickly and it was a real team effort.”
With just four groundsmen in the team, they are often at full stretch, and Dan comments that the winter ahead will provide an opportunity to consider how best to use their resources.
“It’s a young team - two of the lads hadn’t even driven a tractor before they came to Windsor and we will certainly do some more training, and we’d like to be more flexible about who does what,” he says.
“The difficulty is that some roles just work so well,” says Eloise. “Dan and his assistant Steve have the irrigation down to a ‘t’.”
The working relationship between the two of them has strengthened and developed through the challenges and both bring different skills to the job.
Dan is from a greenkeeping background, latterly helping with the redevelopment of Royal Ascot Golf Course after it moved away from the racecourse.
Eloise has a degree in biology and worked as travelling head lass to trainer Ben Pauling before applying to train as a Clerk of the Course, receiving her accreditation in May this year.
“We can bounce ideas off each other and have healthy discussions,” says Eloise. “But communication is key - Dan will always tell me exactly what he has done and then it’s so much easier to justify actions to trainers who enquire why we have prepared the course in a particular way.”
“It means a lot to us to get the racing surface as good as possible and keep it that way, and to rebuild the reputation of Royal Windsor Racecourse,” says Dan. “It’s hard work racing every Monday but there’s a great adrenalin rush and I think the whole team enjoy it.”
The parade ring has been kept green with tender loving care from the grounds team
returfing the area.
“It was very tight in the 4th placed horse space and could be claustrophobic with potential safety issues,” says Dan. “Removing the tree has also improved airflow and helped with grass growth.” Maintenance of the public areas has also had a rethink, with the parade ring mowed and prepared immediately ahead of racing to look its best and deal with leaf fall from the many trees in this picturesque area. Many racegoers arrive from Windsor via the river, and clearing and tidying the jetty area - even planting flowers in an old boat - has improved their experience. Conferences and events take their toll on the public areas and, whilst the parade ring and saddling areas have been kept green, Dan and the team have fought a losing battle with the lawns in this driest of summers. “We have to turn the sprinklers off if there is an event on, and resurfaced inside the lawn marquee with woodchip after the grass died. It’s all part of the job, but can be a bit disheartening.” “On the upside, visitors who come to the course for an event often return for a day’s racing, and the Monday evening fixtures are an attractive proposition for businesses,” says Eloise.
Non-racing activities have also provided some unusual benefits - the course was used for parking during the 2012 Olympics when nearby Dorney Lake hosted the rowing. A new perimeter hard road was constructed which is now used as the service road for emergency vehicles during racing! Tourism in the area is also driving developments with a proposed hotel development in the little-used Silver Ring area.
One event which Dan remembers with
mixed feelings is Saltex, held on the racecourse until its move to the NEC in 2016.
“Whilst it was brilliant to have the whole industry here, it did make a lot of work,” he recalls. “One of the biggest tasks was to renovate the areas where trackway was laid to allow vehicles to cross the course, ahead of our final meetings in October. We had to reseed and cover it with plastic to get grass to grow back in the space of a week!”
106 PC August/September 2018
The vigorous sward, thriving on minimal nutrients in a record-breaking summer
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