EQUESTRIAN
An aerial view of Ascot shows how the national hunt track sits on the inside of the flat running line, and gets a hammering from the crowds during the Royal meeting
This repairs the surface and assists with drainage, but you have to ensure
”
the ground can take it. We also verti-quaked in summer when the
conditions were hard, which has visibly improved root development
Extreme wet conditions in autumn 2019 took their toll on the chute onto the course, which was sanded for safety
Drainage works have not been neglected on the round course, with sand slitting, sand banding and topdressing ongoing since 2004, but the unprecedented wet autumn of 2019 meant that the inner flat alignment plan had to be used for the first time. 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. “It was a lot of work moving the rail, but
thanks must go to the team who are really keen and were well prepared for it,” Chris comments. “With several Group 1 races on the card, the plan was always going to generate discussion - in a normal year, the jumps course would be too firm and patchy for flat racing, but in those conditions it was ideal, and the verdict from the industry was
favourable. In the end, it saved the meeting as parts of the outer course were waterlogged.”
But, with the National Hunt season looming and the first meeting just two weeks after Champions Day, the pressure on the team was relentless, who now moved to repairing the track for the jumps fixtures. “Fortunately, we were able to plan a wide alignment for the hurdles course, so the first time that ground was used again was for the December 20th-21st meeting, giving time for recovery,” he says.
Winter brings its own dilemmas and, after several dry autumns, 2019’s deluges produced ‘proper jumping ground’, i.e. very soft conditions, attracting plenty of runners and testing the renovation skills of the Ascot team.
“The track is ‘put back’ the day after
The famous Golden Gates, where the carriage parade enters the course at Royal Ascot
108 PC February/March 2020
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