EQUESTRIAN
Ludlow Racecourse
Ludlow’s road to progress
They say that new brooms sweep clean but, at Ludlow Racecourse, Tom Moreland - in his first groundsman role - aims to keep a balance between the latest science and techniques and traditions which have seen the course through the last 294 years. Jane Carley reports
W
hen Ludlow Racing Club was looking to recruit a new head groundsman in 2017, Tom Moreland was already well known to the
team, as a supplier of marquees for functions and racedays. “I’d always liked the racecourse and said that I’d be interested in any groundsmanship roles that came up. But it has been a steep learning curve to step into the head groundsman’s job,” he explains. As well as being familiar with working outdoors and leading a team, Tom had the benefit of a family background in agricultural engineering and connections with the machinery trade. Industry training, plus the support of Clerk of the Course Simon Sherwood and groundsmen Roger and Chris Jones, who between them have more than seventy years’ service at Ludlow, have helped him develop his skills to shape and improve the popular Shropshire course. Tom explains how the team works together: “As a former leading jockey and trainer, Simon can relate to how the ground will ride from experience, so his input is massive. He’s really supported me in this new role - I’d never even been horseracing and, after twenty years doing marquees, it was a big change.”
Simon adds that he comes from agricultural background, so is used to more traditional groundsmanship but is keen to embrace the latest science and techniques that Tom wishes to apply.
Apart from its distinctive road crossings, 104 PC February/March 2019
the course itself is a traditional national hunt track, flattish, with just a couple of undulations. The tight, fast layout suits a particular type of horse, suggests Simon. With a few Grade 2 races, but mainly Grade 3, Tom comments that Ludlow attracts a higher standard of runner because it is renowned for generous prize money. “I have done a bit of research and found a huge number of horses that have run here and gone on to do well at Aintree or Cheltenham,” he says.
The personal touch is another attraction -
Tom liaises with trainers bringing their runners overnight before racing - some of which travel from as far as Ireland - and keeps an eye on the horses as they arrive. Ludlow also presents unusually favourable winter conditions: “The racecourse is on a gravel bed, so is very quick draining - after this dry winter I was still watering in January,” comments Tom. Simon points out: “In a wet year, we do very well when other courses are struggling, as trainers look for better ground to run their horses on. Irrigation is key in the autumn and we often need to put on three to four inches a day.” “We started irrigating about twelve days before racing in 2018. Because of weather, we couldn’t ever get it soft, but could produce safe, consistent footing,” adds Tom. Ludlow has its own reservoir for water, pumped out of the river and a borehole. It is applied to the wide expanse of track using a Briggs boom pulled out twice down the home straight, with two further Briggs outfits
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
