CHELMSFORD CITY RACECOURSE
A thick, healthy sward… Roy Mellis, Rigby Taylor’s Technical Area Manager, left, and Andy Waitt, Clerk of the Course at Chelmsford City Racecourse
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helmsford City Racecourse Clerk of the Course, Andy Waitt, and his team have been busy building a new natural turf racetrack this year, and already credits Rigby Taylor’s R14 CR creeping and diploid perennial ryegrass blend for the establishment of its “thick, healthy sward”. Formerly Great Leighs Racecourse, Chelmsford City Racecourse opened in 2015 as the only thoroughbred racecourse in Essex. Famed for its all-weather racetrack, an additional area had been put aside in 2007, with floodlights already in position, for a natural turf track installation and Andy says this year offered the best time to build it. Armed with his previous work experience at Lingfield Park, Sandown Park and Folkstone racecourses, Andy says his knowledge on course construction
32 | TURF MATTERS | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2021
Convert Gold 22.3.10 applied in March
was a big help when managing this project. His team, consisting of his son Jamie, who is Grounds Manager and Assistant Clerk of the Course, and teammates Darren Howe and Aaron Hopkins, did the decompaction and seeding themselves, after the neighbouring quarrymen used heavy machinery to lay materials.
Before the project began, Andy took course construction advice from PSD agronomist Charles Henderson and product advice from Rigby Taylor Technical Sales Manager, Roy Mellis. “The track was profiled and dug out and once the drainage went in, we put in a base layer of stone, followed by subsoil sand and finished off with
topsoil,” he explained. Sowing the pregerminated Rigby Taylor R14 CR grass seed and applying ConVert Gold 66 (22.3.10) controlledrelease fertiliser was the team’s job for the end of March this year. “However the lack of rain in April meant a slower start than expected. “Unfortunately, it was dry and frosty every night for about six weeks, so the seed didn’t kick in immediately,” Andy says. “However, once it started to grow it came on vigorously and we now have a very good, thick, healthy sward.” According to Andy, the ideal natural turf racetrack surface is on the easier side of good to firm for flat racing so the horses can get a good toe/ purchase into the ground. With this objective in mind, Andy is planning to give the new course at least a year to settle down.
