To water or not to water? | Trainer Magazine | European Trainer Article Index

Oct 7

Oct 7 To water or not to water?

TO WATER OR NOT TO WATER? The watering of tracks is a contentious issue, even though, depending on the view you take, it’s an essential blessing/evil for grass growth. Everyone wants to see a good covering of grass on a racecourse but thereon in opinion is split as to whether natural firm summer ground should prevail or whether artificial watering should ensure good ground. Much of that opinion rests on whether you have a firm or good ground specialist! BRITISH-BASED trainers Hughie Morrison and Mark Johnston and jockey Richard Hughes have each added their voice to the in-print debate about whether racecourses should water turf to obtain artificially good ground, in opposition, but ultimately it comes down to the Racecourse Manager, the Clerk of the Course and their team of groundsmen. Their concern is not for a particular horse but for the quality of their track and the safety of horses and jockeys. Nor is it a matter of personal choice. The Racecourses Organisation of Britain (RCA) requires that to ensure consistency and a measured level of expertise, all racecourses must retain the services of a turf consultant and are to produce annually, by the end of October, the turf consultant’s report on the condition of the course. While the season at Roscommon in Ireland may only run from May to September, the weather variations can often be extreme and natural rainfall is a continual problem. Manager Michael Finneran sums up perfectly the problems faced by groundsmen everywhere. “One thing that everyone has to realise is the totally different soil structures,” he explains. “The soil structure on one side of Ireland, for example, is totally unlike that on the other side of the country. Hence we have winter racing in different areas to summer racing.” Given the high levels of rainfall, watering at Roscommon isn’t the greatest of Finneran’s concerns. “Our biggest problem is drainage, but since investing in a drainage system, our worst areas of the past have now become our driest areas. It takes a few years for any system to kick in properly,. The soil here took a year or two to really dry out thoroughly and we were still struggling. The addition of sand slits, to collect the water in the soil, was a tremendous improvement.” Like everyone else, Finneran and his fellow racecourse managers are always at the mercy of weather forecasts. The promise of rain that never materialises can catch many a manager out and, as Finneran says, they would need to be on site from dawn to midnight in order to really do their best for the ground. More importantly, there is only one priority when it comes to track condition and it isn’t attracting the best horses. We water for the safety of horse and jockey, that is our main priority,” insists Finneran. “Our main aim is to provide safe ground for horse and jockey and any water we put down for that reason also promotes grass growth. We do our best not to interfere with nature, but to help it.” Working with so changeable a mistress as Mother Nature can’t be easy and the British Racecourses Association (RCA) publication ‘The Racecourse Training Manual’, freely downloadable, illustrates just what a highly technical and complex job it is. Moreover, it clearly states: “Through good management practices National Hunt courses should aim to provide good ground (and no firmer than good to firm) whilst Flat courses should aim to provide good to firm ground.” Controversially, some might argue, the Manual also states: “Comprehensive records compiled by the Racecourse Department over a ten year period show that the risk of injury to horses is minimised when the extremes of going are avoided.” Some of these figures have been questioned due to often subjective going descriptions, individual track variations and not all horses having an equal risk of fracture. “Horses know when it is firm and they look after themselves but, when they let themselves go on ground that is soft on top and firm underneath, that’s when you have problems,” Hughie Morrison told the Daily Sta r last July during a furious outburst against unnecessary watering. Clonmel, which stages racing all year, made the headlines earlier this summer for a large number of horse fatalities at a single NH meeting but ground conditions, officially good- to-firm, were not to blame. Five horses died at an evening NH meeting in July, however Irish officials did not call for extra watering, satisfied that the injuries could not be attributed to either the track or the going. Only one of the five horses to suffer fatal injuries did so as a result of a fall and two were injured in a bumper. None of the jockeys or trainers of the horses involved attributed the fatalities to the track or the surface. “Obviously when there’s five fatalities at a particular racecourse on a particular day, you have to look at everything to see if there is a common thread, but there isn’t,” said Denis Egan, Chief Executive of the Turf Club. “Everybody was happy with the ground. I even had an email from a leading trainer who had runners there to say that he had no problem with it. He had five runners on the night and they all returned sound.” In Britain, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) instructs jumps courses to aim to stage racing on ground no faster than good, watering the track when necessary to achieve this, but this is not a policy adopted by Ireland. “We’ve had this debate time and time again about whether the ground should be altered and the view of a lot of trainers is that if that is what the weather is, then provided the ground is safe, they are happy to run,” said Egan. “It doesn’t need to be on the slow side of good to be safe. If the track is level with a good covering of grass and if the jar is taken out of it, the ground is safe.” Of course, echoing Finneran’s reminder about soil structure, avoiding firm ground might not only be for the good of the horse. Soil structure is determined by the amount of organic matter and airspace within the soil and in its natural state earthworm activities create fissures, enabling aeration of the soil, which in turn promotes root, grass growth and mineral uptake. Racecourses, however, are subjected to high compactive forces from horses and maintenance equipment, forcing out the air and compacting the soil. This results in poor drainage, poor root development, less vigorous grass growth and, in dry conditions, an unyielding surface. Has modern equipment played a role in sounding the death knell for firm going? That may have once been the case but lighter machinery is turning that theory around. “A lot of tracks are now using umbilical machinery and it’s not as heavy as the old water tanks,” says Lorcan Wyer, Clerk of the Course at nine Irish racecourses, including Leopardstown, Thurles and Clonmel, where racing continues throughout summer and winter, as well as Galway. “The verti-drain machine is wonderful and acts as decompaction. Where there is no winter racing, we graze sheep on the course, at Galway and Roscommon, throughout the winter and that’s the best ever maintenance.” It’s very easy for jockeys and trainers to condemn ground conditions or the choices made by course clerks but 16 detailed pages of what is no more than a basic summary of ground care provides an illustration of how tough the actual task is. And firm ground is definitely not a welcomed aim. The majority of racecourse groundsmen in Britain are members of the Institute of Groundsmanship, membership being very actively encouraged by the RCA, and to maintain that accreditation they must complete a minimum of 35 hours of Continuous Personal Development training each year. Watering might be an age-old battle but maintaining a good racing surface is a modern and forward- thinking occupation, with the latest studies and innovations to hand. Nevertheless, the fact remains that grass typically needs 20-30mm of rain per week during the summer for growth, nutrients and ideal soil conditions. Surprisingly, drought occurs in Britain on average every three to four years out of ten. Regionally, this increases from one to three years out of ten in the north of England and Scotland to as much as seven to eight years out of ten in parts of the South East. At these times the water deficit in grass is more than 150mm during April to September. There is, of course, a further side to the dilemma. It isn’t just a question of watering during the summer for safety reasons or for pandering to the needs of elite horses. Whether for right reasons or wrong reasons, does summer watering affect the ground conditions come winter? The hue and cry about ethics on a big race day at the height of the Flat season are quickly irrelevant and forgotten, but the repercussions could possibly be faced by winter performers just a few months down the line. Chris Gray BSc(Hons), MSc, PGDTech, DipGeogEnv, DipIT, NDT, FinstG, Head of Education at the Institute of Groundsmanship, dismisses this suggestion. “Excessive watering during the summer will not affect ground conditions during the winter,” he insists. “The reason is that the residence time of water in a soil is relatively short due to the natural processes of drainage and evapo-transpiration, with the latter process being especially prevalent during the summer. Even if soils are temporarily flooded in the summer, they will drain naturally once the flood conditions have ceased. If a clay soil, however, had been especially prepared to retain water, such as for a natural pond, then the outcome would be different, but this is not applicable for any form of racecourse. “There are many factors which impact on the going status of any racecourse, however summer watering, even if excessive, will not be a factor in the winter,” he adds. “A significant majority of racecourse groundstaff are members of the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG); this is primarily due to the positive and pro-active approach taken by the Racecourse Association (RCA), who we consider an outstanding example of an organisation that advocates education and training for their industry.” However, out on the coalface, there are groundsmen and Clerks who will disagree. “There is some truth in the suggestion that summer watering damages winter going,” Wyer argues. “If you have a dry summer it can be problematic,” he explains. “For example, at Leopardstown, where we have a wonderful track with staff to match, we use irrigation to maintain safe ground throughout the summer. To arrive at that we have to water on a weekly basis. When you walk along the watered area, midway between the Steeplechase Course and the Champion Hurdle Course, essentially the middle section of the racecourse, it’s quite noticeable – the summer-watered ground can hang on to the moisture and can ride slower in the winter. “But there are ways you can help, we use a verti-drain machine, which is excellent. The grass root can get a bit lazy with irrigation, so draining and a little light top dressing helps the root to get down and work properly. The type of sand used in the dressing is key – beach sand, with sea shell type quality, really encourages worm activity.” Of course, another problem Wyer faces in Ireland is the mixed card of both Flat and NH. “We’re trying to get ground that is ideal for a seven furlong two-year-old and a staying chaser on the same card. Galway can be very problematic, with a Listed seven furlong race for fillies and a staying chase in the one day, but over all I think we managed to keep everyone happy.” One man who must also consider this at all times is award-winning Head Groundsman at Huntingdon racecourse, Shaun Reilly. Reilly was awarded the Institute of Groundsmen John Deere Professional Horse Racing Groundsman of the Year in 2012. “We are faced with two challenges,” he says of Huntingdon. “In the summertime you are watering for the going, keeping the ground as good as possible to produce nice racing, and in the winter you are at the mercy of the weather. It’s either raining or it’s freezing cold. But we’re quite lucky here because we have a decent drainage system and a nice racing surface.” Even though last year’s Award recipient, Adrian Kay at York racecourse, deals only with Flat racing from May to October, he and his groundstaff have had to cope with the wettest summer on record in 2012 and the heat wave of July 2013, so year-round weather extremes are not only a headache for courses with year-round racing. Course Director Jean Guillaume d’Orglandes, at Saint-Cloud, faces these same problems shared by most racecourse managers. He has found a new solution in the latest equipment available, in the case of Saint-Cloud the Imants ShockWave, which will also be used at the other France-Galop tracks of Longchamp and Auteuil. “We wanted to maintain the excellent condition of the soil structure and root zone without causing damage or leaving deep impressions on the surface of the track,” he announced. The Imants ShockWave is a linear decompactor, which revitalises heavy wear areas by relieving soil compaction, improving aeration and removing surface water. The timing of meetings, as at many courses, does not leave d’Orglandes with enough time to ideally complete cultivation and the ShockWave, coupled with its lightness, has been of huge benefit, even though Saint-Cloud suffers few drainage or compaction problems. Susanne Putensen, Manager at Hamburg racecourse, does not have to comply with any official requirement for going, but points out, “We have a special situation because there are six or seven days of mixed racing within ten days in July. The meeting traditionally ends with the German Derby (Group I). “We have two turf courses, the main course (only for flat racing) and a slightly smaller one which may also be used for hurdle races. Both can be watered, the course for steeplechases (one or two during the meeting) cannot be watered. Parts of the courses are drained in consequence to very severe weather in 2007. “The courses are watered depending on weather pattern and forecast, not only to help the grass but to keep the going permeable,” Putensen continues. “Hamburg is well known for its ‘British’ climate and heavy showers. The aim is to keep the going on the firm side of good to be always prepared for bad weather.” And so we have a situation in Germany where Group One class horses, steeplechasers and hurdlers alike are all racing on firm summer ground, at times unwatered due to threat of heavy rainfall. It would appear to concur with the current view of many British trainers – more arguments arise from artificially watered good ground than from natural firm ground. “Keep it simple,” concludes Lorcan Wyer. “Our aim is to grow good grass and have good ground. There is a huge variety of soil structure and composition and we all strive for an Axminster carpet!” You cannot please all of the people all of the time, but Europe’s groundsmen are certainly going a long way to prove that theory wrong.

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