Horse Racing: Gowran Park and Doncaster act against frost
Gowran Park has been relatively free of frost since the spell that forced officials to declare the track unfit for the Connolly’s Red Mill Thyestes Chase that was to take place here last Saturday. The officials have now declared the course to be race-able
and, to make sure that the meeting takes place on Friday without further disruptions, as a precaution, about an acre of the course has been covered.
Those areas of the track that are high, vulnerable to frost or covered with grass have been put under the protection of special frost covers that have been particularly brought over from the United States for Gowran Park. The covered areas also include all
the fences, take-off and landing sites.
The manager for the racecourse, Margaret Fogarty told reporters on Thursday that the covers have been laid over good ground, although there has been no frost at Gowran Park recently. She believes that it is better to be safe rather than sorry, especially
considering the fact that most of the track’s ground is really soft at some places and heavy at others. Manager Fogarty also says that the preparations for the Chase are going smoothly and she hopes that no further problems hinder the start of the meeting.
Since weather forecasts for the area predict temperatures to drop as low as -2C, a minor bout of frost is being expected on Thursday.
Meanwhile, officials at Doncaster are also taking measures to protect it from the threat of frost. They will check the track at 7.30 in the morning on Friday for a fixture which is to take place there in the afternoon the same day.
The acting clerk of the course, Gemma Charrington said that the track is in good-to-firm shape for the race. The weather forecasts predict overnight temperatures to drop as low as -2C while the Friday morning temperatures have been predicted to rise up to
4C, making the probability of frost quite high.
Although the whole of the track has been covered, the morning inspection has been scheduled to make sure that the ground remains in the best of conditions for the fixture to proceed. After the races on Friday, the frost covers will be deployed once more
to protect the ground for the weekend meeting.
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