To say it has been a tricky period for clerks of courses would be akin to suggesting Southampton could be in danger of relegation from the Premier League.
This article first appeared in the Racing Post on Friday 17th February.
The phrase ‘they are not out of it yet’ is a hopeful note for the sorry Saints, but many clerks will not be out of the mire until rain comes, and in some quantity. John Sharp, clerk at Horseheath in Cambridgeshire, says: “The course was opened 50 years ago and I rode at the first meeting. I’ve been involved in running it for 22 years and have been clerk of the course for 15 of those, but I’ve never known it to be this dry in February.”
Watering has, of necessity, become an art form for point-to-point tracks which race in the spring. Horseheath’s three fixtures take place from December to February, yet for last weekend’s meeting, Sharp had to apply moisture to the take-offs and landings of fences using a bowser and water from a nearby lake.
On the previous Wednesday he had said: “We are set to receive a bit of drizzle tonight, showers tomorrow, wind on Friday and some rain on Saturday morning. I’ll judge it when we see how much rain arrives.
“They say these weather patterns are down to global warming, but it’s been freezing. Until this season I had never called a meeting off because of frost, but I did for the fixture here last month.”
As if his woes had not been piling up with each dry weather forecast, Sharp was instructed in midweek by a course inspector to move rails on the bend after the finishing line. It happens to be one of the longest curves on a British track, some one and a half furlongs in length, and required the assistance of two additional pairs of hands to move.
“I’m fed up,” he admitted, using a slight variation on those words to convey his frustration at this instruction, but his ability to find volunteers out of thin air is what makes Sharp, and dozens like him across Britain, vital to the sport.
At November’s national dinner, he received an award for his services to pointing, but modestly stated he was giving something back for the pleasure he had received. That included riding 168 point-to-point winners at a time when there were no meetings on Sunday and the season was three months shorter.