There’s a string of excuses for beaten horses trotted out by their trainers and riders in post-race analysis, but if there’s one over-riding obsession among racing professionals, it’s the state of the ground. Ground is rarely perfect, always too quick, too soft, too holding. In the pantheon of racing excuses, the going ranks right at the top.

One might assume from this that groundsmen twiddle their thumbs all day watching grass grow, whereas nothing could be further from the truth. Protecting the racing surface from the damage created by upwards of 70 half-ton horses every two weeks is a perpetual challenge and a thankless task.

Not quite thankless perhaps.

The Grounds Management Association’s #GroundsWeek campaign rightly celebrates the tireless work of groundstaff at sports stadia, training grounds and grass roots venues across the nation. Supporting these vital teams forms a major part of the RCA’s annual Racecourse Services output, with a series of learning and development opportunities designed to share expertise and strengthen standards across British racing.

Racecourse Association’s Impetus To Turf Management Excellence

The most significant of these is the RCA’s Medical, Veterinary and Turf Management Conference, proudly partnered by Duralock. Held on alternate years alongside a similar event for racecourse operations teams, the event is recognised across the industry as a leading forum for collaboration and bringing together groundstaff, racecourse managers, clerks of the course and specialist partners to share best practice.

This year’s conference was hosted at Lingfield Park Racecourse, whose facilities, including its all-weather track, provided an ideal setting for both technical discussion and practical demonstration. Supported by industry partners, the event once again underlined the importance of collaboration in maintaining safe, consistent and high-quality racing surfaces.

The conference is a key part of the RCA’s wider commitment to groundstaff development. Through events like this, the RCA creates structured opportunities for knowledge-sharing that would not otherwise happen within individual racecourses. The aim is not only to showcase best practice, but to embed it across the industry.

In this respect, the RCA is treading a well-worn path. The Australian Racecourse Managers Association does something very similar with the three surfaces that they deal with down under, which include dirt as well as artificial surfaces and turf, with an annual conference each August, their winter.

Showcasing Excellence & Innovation

This year’s British conference included a keynote presentation from George Hill and Sean Revell of Newbury Racecourse, winners of the 2025 RCA Groundstaff Champions Award. Their work demonstrated how targeted investment and innovation can directly improve racing surfaces.

At Newbury, drainage improvements have been central to their approach, with new primary systems enhancing water movement through the soil profile and reducing the risk of waterlogging during heavy rainfall. The examples from Newbury’s success illustrate how RCA-supported knowledge sharing helps raise standards across all racecourses, not just individual sites.

Additional expertise came from Paul Brown, Head of Grounds at Guards Polo Club, who shared over 40 years of experience in turf management. His transition from golf to polo highlighted how principles such as consistency, monitoring and efficiency can be applied across different sports. This cross-sector learning is a key outcome of the RCA’s conference design, ensuring groundstaff benefit from wider industry expertise.

Data, Weather & Decision-Making

A growing area of RCA focus is helping groundstaff to utilise data and environmental insight when taking decisions impacting the turf. Christian Spring and Sarah Hosmer of STRI introduced Performance Quality Standards (PQS), a framework designed to support structured monitoring of playing surfaces. Rather than acting as a pass-or-fail system, PQS helps track long-term trends in soil, turf and structural performance, enabling more proactive maintenance planning.

Weather intelligence also plays an increasingly important role. Mark Hunt of Prodata Weather Systems demonstrated how conditions such as low light levels can significantly impact grass health, increasing vulnerability to disease and wear. Improved forecasting tools are now helping groundstaff plan irrigation, maintenance and race preparation with greater precision, another example of how the RCA supports modern, data-led turf management.

Environmental Resilience & Long-Term Sustainability

Environmental challenges formed a major strand of discussion, reinforcing why RCA support for groundstaff is more important than ever. Changing weather patterns, including prolonged dry spells and wetter winters, are placing increasing pressure on racecourse surfaces. One moment the rain won’t stop, the next, it’s never to be seen.

Water management remains central to this work, with a focus on improving capture and storage systems so racecourses can better manage both excess rainfall and drought conditions. Water is becoming a scarce resource.

Andrew Malam, Head Groundsman at Bangor on Dee and Chester Racecourses, highlighted the value of this RCA-led collaboration: “The Turf Management Seminar was a very worthwhile event. It covered lots of important issues in racecourse management with lots of interesting presentations. The two evenings we spent there gave a great opportunity to catch up with colleagues from other racecourses and industry figures.”

There’s little doubt that grounds management has come a long way from even 20 years ago. Photos of footballs sticking in glutinously muddy goalmouths have been consigned to the history books, and discoloured grass in the Spring due to poor growth on our racecourses simply doesn’t happen anymore. The appliance of Science has improved conditions no end.

As you’ll now understand, producing a velvet carpet of turf for racing each fixture isn’t just in the lap of the gods. We all want to produce safe and consistent going to maximize the chances of every horse every time, but inevitably the seasons and weather conditions continue to lay a big part.

So the day when trainers and riders can no longer blame the going is a nirvana that won’t be happening anytime soon.