RHT takes top track awards
Tracks owned by Racecourse Holdings Trust (RHT) have swept the board in the Tote-sponsored Neil Wyatt Groundstaff of the Year Awards.
The RHT owns just 13 of Britain’s 59 racecourses, yet has won all three of the prestigious prizes.
Haydock, dual-purpose track of the year three times from 2000 to 2002, won back the title after finishing runner-up in 2004.
Nottingham took Flat track of the year, while the award for best jumps course went to Aintree.
RHT tracks Newmarket and Cheltenham were also runners-up in the Flat and jumps course categories.
Andrew Coppel, chief executive of RHT, said: “For RHT to provide the outright winner of each category, along with two of the runners-up, is a brilliant achievement. It underlines our continuing commitment to raising standards of turf management across the breadth of the group.”
Nottingham was also singled out for special praise after developing two tracks following the realignment of the course.
The awards, now in their 10th year, are organised by the Racecourse Association and the judging panel consists of representatives from the Jockeys’ Association, the National Trainers Federation, the Jockey Club Inspectors and the Tote.
The winning courses each receive £2,200 (€3,200) with £1,200 (€1,700) of that to be spent on machinery and the rest to be split among the groundstaff.
