EQUESTRIAN
The crowds will surely be back this season
helping the full-time team to fork the course making good hoof damage. They were wonderful. Gradually, reliance on local help dwindled, as much as anything because we couldn’t guarantee sufficient numbers and the time the job took got longer and longer. What once was getting done in a couple of days was taking a week or more. Like most courses, we’ve come to rely on a company called Sterling Services for an experienced workforce for post event repairs. They know what they’re doing and what’s expected of them. An experienced workforce of a guaranteed number is such a benefit, much as I loved the old days and the fun we had. Generally, we can expect the course to be back in shape in a day. It means we can have more time spent on preparing the course, fences and hurdles for our next meeting. Training courses for ground staff is another worthy advance. These have meant improved course repair methods and better racing surfaces. Also groundsmen getting recognition within the industry and not just classed as agricultural workers, as we were when I started.
In general, back in the day, Clerks of the Course would principally have either a military or agricultural background. Things have changed substantially during my forty years, with Clerks these days having to be
highly tuned in to what groundsmen are doing and the effects on going. Everything is so much more professional all round. Yet to happen is a workplace pension for ground staff. The Government NEST scheme is available now but, in my opinion, racing should have done it years ago for its lower paid workers. We’ll see.
How have things changed at Plumpton in your time here?
Enormously. The majority of the stands and associated buildings were timber structures when I first came here. These have all been replaced and Plumpton, though a small course, offers racegoers a very comfortable, modern environment on race days and, of course, it’s a much-used venue for business and social gatherings.
I think the best thing about Plumpton, for all the modernisation, is it’s kept its intimate, family feel. It’s one of the very few courses that lets you see the whole of the circuit wherever you choose to watch the racing. When I first started here in 1980 there were no offices, no management. There was just the grounds staff and a foreman, who was termed the Racecourse Manager. There were just five of us. There was a Clerk of the Course and we would get to see him, on average, once a week, until a race meeting was imminent.
I think the best thing about Plumpton, for all the modernisation, is it’s kept its intimate, family feel. It’s one of the very few courses that lets you see the whole of the circuit wherever you choose to watch the racing
”
The Plumpton Grandstand from before Mark’s time there
118 PC August/September 2020
Investment was measured during my early years and the buildings’ paintwork and signage all started to look tired as we entered the mid-90s. The current directors, Peter Savill and Adrian Pratt, have invested heavily in the infrastructure since they took over ownership in 1998, including substantial drainage works.
Only this summer we have had secondary banding drainage added in the home straight where water was slow to get away last season, MJ Abbott’s being our preferred drainage contractor.
This is where regular topdressing plays a big part in preventing capping of drains to allow downward movement of surface water. The considerable investment in drainage here has saved meetings that would previously have been lost. The directors deserve huge credit for their continued support and faith in the course. Other recent investments have included upgrading the stable staff hostel and building a barn centre course to protect machinery, as well as providing a dry environment for staff to work on hurdles and fence sections.
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