'They were tough months - it was gruelling' - clerk reflects on challenging year

Record temperatures and prolonged dry and unsettled spells have made for a challenging year for many clerks of the course according to Sandown and Epsom official Andrew Cooper.

Cooper described July and August as “gruelling” months at his Jockey Club Racecourses-owned tracks and many others, with groundstaff across Britain watering on a daily basis to maintain safe conditions.

Those summer hot spells, with temperatures exceeding 40C for the first time in Britain on one day in mid-July, have impacted preparations for jumps courses, with the dual-purpose Sandown not alone in experiencing a “challenging autumn”.

Cooper, who has kept records of rainfall and temperatures for 25 years, said: “It was a real challenge to keep Flat courses going and irrigating for any racecourse team, certainly for anywhere south of Birmingham. For July and August, you were flat out watering – they were really tough months, it was gruelling and a seven-day-a-week operation.

“You wouldn’t want to see too many summers like that going forward, but the summer before was actually very wet and you barely needed to be irrigating. There seems to be more of a trend of having prolonged and longer dry spells and a prolonged unsettled spell, instead of it being spread out over a more even timeframe.

“This summer has obviously had an impact on certain jumps tracks and the going and Sandown wouldn’t be alone in that. It was a challenging autumn to get the jumps track to where you would like it to be."

Two Tingle Creek Chases have been held on good ground since 2000, including Moscow Flyer’s victory over Azertyuiop in 2003, and Cooper recalls a particularly quick surface for Viking Flagship’s 1994 win.

Cooper said: “In my early days here Viking Flagship won the Tingle Creek on real quick ground – there was a less positive attitude to watering in those days. I’ve done Tingle Creeks on heavy to the fast side of good, and we’ve had it considerably quicker than it is now.”

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