Earning his Spurs - Pitchcare

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“Some groundsmen I’ve
spoken to recently have
moved away from gang
mowers to more dedicated
machines, but the gangs,
combined with the Lastec,
works well for our needs”
know their own areas and the course
as a whole perhaps even better than
someone who comes in a few times
in a season.”
“We are “lucky” to enjoy what is a
“uniform” course on the whole - one
largely free of particularly
problematic areas,” Nigel adds.
It is nature that has traditionally
thrown up the biggest problems
though. Chafer grubs have been the
cause of two race cancellations, he
reveals. By eating tuft roots, they
cause the surface to loosen –
potentially catastrophic to the
horses. Fox damage is another
nagging concern. “The Derby start
is our worst-hit area. It’s the furthest
point of the course with trees lining
the track and a place where foxes
populate. They’ve caused us real
headaches by digging up the
course,” Nigel recalls.
In the Derby run-up, Nigel walks
the course at least daily for two
weeks to gain “a good estimate” of
how much water is needed to
achieve a good going. This is
especially crucial if May has been a
dry month, he says, yet for the last
three years the opposite has proved
to be the case, and this year is
predicted to be similarly bereft of
rain.
Long hours are the order of the
day as the Derby meeting arrives.
“On the Friday evening after Ladies
Day we move a mile of rail out eight
yards to allow a fresh strip of grass
for the horses,” explains Nigel. “We
repair divots using a 50-50
Mansfield sand divot mix, finishing