EQUESTRIAN
The mammoth effort by the grounds team to prepare both tracks for Champions Day involved six men,
”
moving two and half miles of rail by hand, minimising any vehicle movements on the sodden turf
P
reparation and teamwork are everything at Ascot. Renowned globally for the five-day Royal Meeting in June, the independently-owned and
managed Berkshire racecourse also hosts key jumps fixtures over the winter and, in 2011, launched QIPCO British Champions Day, a high profile international flat racing fixture which is a key part of the season’s grand finale in October. “We always knew that the timing of QIPCO Champions Day would make it vulnerable to wet weather,” explains Clerk of the Course Chris Stickels. “We even looked at using rain covers to protect the turf and, whilst the costs and required infrastructure were prohibitive, the practicality of removing covers when it might still be raining, creating inconsistencies and all sorts of other problems, was the real barrier.” By 2014, the Ascot team had hatched a contingency plan which would make effective use of the twenty hectare racing surface which nestles between Ascot high street and the main routes to Windsor. Chase and hurdle races are run on the inside of the round flat course which meets the mile straight in front of the Grandstand, made famous by the Royal Procession, where the Queen’s carriage leads another three landaus, opening each day of Royal Ascot.
Ascot’s grounds team, with Chris Stickels far right, Donny Reece second right and Reon Sandford hiding in the centre!
The National Hunt (jumps) track is left largely unwatered during the summer months, with just enough irrigation to maintain grass growth in a dry spell. “We’d mapped out the rail alignment to allow one and a quarter, one and a half and two-mile races to be run on the jumps track part of the round course, creating an ‘inner flat alignment’ on ground used for the hurdles in the winter and offering better footing in wet conditions. The straight is not such an issue as it was rebuilt on a sand and gravel raft when the track was redeveloped in 2004-2006, although the organic matter has increased over time, and it does hold more moisture now.”
PC February/March 2020 107
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