Getting To The Root Of The Problem

Set in the beautiful Shropshire countryside, the team at Ludlow Racecourse pride themselves on providing a friendly atmosphere, good prize money and a top-quality racing surface.

As part of #Groundsweek 2022, Clerk of the Course Simon Sherwood and Head Groundsman Tom Moreland discuss some of the changes they have made in recent years to maintain Ludlow’s fantastic surface, including a particularly troublesome root…

Ludlow pride themselves on providing a friendly atmosphere, good prize money and a top-quality racing surface.

With a base comprised of 70% gravel and 30% loam, Ludlow typically tends to be a free-draining track. However, recently the team kept finding water backed up onto the track after heavy periods of rain. When additional drainage didn’t solve the problem Tom and the team had to bring in a specialist camera to inspect the nearby underground storm drain. It showed that a tree root had grown through the drain, stopping rainwater from draining into the nearby river. Fortunately, the fault was just off the racing line, however with the backed-up water pooling on the track it was an issue that needed to be sorted quickly.

With the discovery coming in the middle of Ludlow’s season Tom, Simon and the dedicated team of three full-time groundstaff had to act fast to ensure the racing surface was safe ahead of their next raceday. Within a week, in the middle of the racing season, the tree was taken down and the damaged pipe dug up and fixed.

The big dig! The team at Ludlow managed to get the work completed within a week in the middle of the racing season.

“The root was blocking 80% of the drain!”

Commenting on the work Clerk of the Course Simon Sherwood said “The area which was flooding was on the loam soil, not the gravel, so was excusable, but we felt the drains were not flowing as well as hoped, hence we decided to investigate with a camera. The root was blocking 80% of the drain and the remedial work has totally resolved the problem”

Elsewhere on the course Tom has added a new piece of equipment to the team’s arsenal, a Güttler roller. The addition of the Güttler roller alongside the Cambridgeshire roller has made the team better equipped to deal with different turf-management scenarios. It has enabled them to roll the ground without undoing soil repairs and back roll up to the fences.

The racecourse has a number of road crossings around the course, previously these have been covered by thick mats with rubber underneath, but some of these crossings have now been covered with fibresand. Not only has this received good feedback from jockeys and trainers, but it has also been beneficial for the racecourse as the crossings now have longer lifespan.

Alongside the new equipment the racecourse has developed a close working relationship with Pitchcare and have worked with them to implement a 12-month fertiliser plan. This has led to a notable improvement to the quality, thickness and longevity of the grass, ensuring that the racing surface is in the best possible condition from their first to their final fixture of the season.

Find out more about the Grounds Management Associations #GroundsWeek here.