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 Chelmsford 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 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.

Convert Gold 22.3.10 applied in March

HIS PLAN IS TO GET IT THE COURSE INTO TOP CONDITION BY ESTABLISHING A GOOD, KNITTED IN, ROOT GROWTH TO MAKE SURE THAT IT’S “ABSOLUTELY A1 QUALITY, SAFE AND READY FOR RACING”

“The course build has been a long process, due to extreme weather conditions and finding windows of opportunity to get on the heavy clay soil. We went from extremes of really dry and very frosty to really wet. But we had to get it right and I’m very happy with the progress made so far.”

His plan is to get it the course into top condition by establishing a good, knitted in, root growth to make sure that it’s “absolutely A1 quality, safe and ready for racing”, which means that the team will continue to work on it into next spring.

This work includes vertidraining, top dressing and a possible overseed – although Andy believes that’s unlikely as “it’s got such a good sward already”.

To aid work around both the all-weather and the new natural turf courses, the racecourse has recently purchased a Wessex triple mower with a New Holland boomer tractor plus a topdresser, a Weidermann vertidrain and Andy also plans to maintain the grass and produce the ‘going’ on the turf track by installing an irrigation system.

Regarding products used on the track and around the course, Andy says that he’s worked with Roy since he joined the racecourse in 2015. “We’ve always worked together to discuss our needs and ensure we end up with the right products,” Andy says.

Andy uses Rigby Taylor’s ornamental bark around the paddocks; rock salt and Mossicide Enclean to ensure non-slip off course surfaces; Glyphosate weed control – High Aktiv herbicide around the none turf amenity areas; Greenor – selective herbicide for weeds in the grass; Outfield fertiliser 12.6.6 summer fertiliser for the lawns and paddock areas; and mushroom compost for general planting around the site.

“Racecourses require a good healthy sward of between three and four inches in length for flat racing and we want to make sure that we create one of the best surfaces available by using Rigby Taylor’s ryegrass mixtures because they offer excellent hard wearing, hardy grass in all sorts of conditions.

Although he hasn’t yet used post germination fertilisers and selected weed killers on the new course, “as the grass is so young”, he plans to work with Roy to decide on the best autumn fertiliser to use.

Once the new racetrack is ready, Andy says it will allow Chelmsford City to put on many more all-weather and turf racing events. “The oval track configuration is very much mirrored on the way that American tracks are built, which is ideally suited to horses that would normally go over to race in the US, so we’re focussing on the possibility of hosting many future events – including a Breeders’ Cup Challenge.”