EQUESTRIAN


The groundcare regime has been kept pretty much as normal at Sandown, but there’s been more uncertainty surrounding Epsom and its ability to race behind closed doors


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The winning post and grandstand at Epsom in May 2020 – awaiting final preparations for the Derby.


Equestrian sports have been as hard hit as any with major championships cancelled and racing and polo seasons put on hold. But turfcare regimes have continued and are now stepping up a pace to ensure perfect footing when resumption is allowed. Managing groundstaff, participants and would-be spectators - who may be excluded for much of the year - is another challenge


Jane Carley speaks to three top equestrian venues to find out their plans moving forward from lockdown


Epsom and Sandown Park Andrew Cooper and Craig Williamson


When racing in the UK was brought to a halt on 17th March, the grounds team which looks after Epsom and Sandown Park was looking ahead to its jumps season finale at Sandown before switching its focus to preparations for the Investec Derby. “We knew early on that we would lose the Sandown meeting, plus the April season- opener at Epsom so, since then, I’ve been working on how we will run racing behind closed doors once we have resumed, and visiting the racecourses at least once a week, whilst Regional Estates Manager Craig Williamson and his team have been keeping the tracks ticking over,” explains Head of Racing and Clerk of the Course Andrew Cooper.


The uncertainty of the resumption date - initially set for 1st May and then pushed back to 1st June - had made groundcare regimes more challenging, he admits. “We usually work to having the tracks in


optimum condition for a specific date or race meeting. At the moment, the Derby and Oaks are scheduled for Saturday 4th July, as lracing resumed in June, to allow a four- week period after the 2000 Guineas, now planned to run on 6th June.”


Whilst there is a provisional target date in place for Epsom, Sandown’s fixtures resumed on 13th June, although Andrew expects that it will be required to stage plenty of racing going forward. “The groundcare regime has been kept pretty much as normal at Sandown, but there’s been more uncertainty surrounding Epsom and its ability to race behind closed doors.”


The legendary home of the Derby has


also experienced some logistical complications due to the pandemic. “We had planned to replace the irrigation pumps in early 2020, but we were not able to complete the work once lockdown began as it required working in underground tanks using breathing apparatus,” explains Craig Williamson. “However, we were able to


PC June/July 2020 109


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