Jane Hedley joins Leopardstown

JANE Hedley has been appointed Racing and Operations Manager with Leopardstown Racecourse.

A former marketing and nominations executive for Shadwell and yard manager at Mark Johnston Racing for six years, Hedley spent nine years as clerk of the course across Warwick, Nottingham and Market Rasen racecourses, as well as supporting the wider team across Jockey Club Racecourses. More recently she was appointed as interim general manager at Nottingham.

Hedley will join Leopardstown during the winter with the Dublin Racing Festival being her first official meeting at the course.

Duralock does deal with Irish racing

BRITISH company Duralock has secured a contract for the provision of racecourse equipment to Horse Racing Ireland and its subsidiaries. Duralock’s offer includes all fencing components from hurdles, hurdle parts, padding for hurdles and jumps, plus a range of running rail, jump wings and other forms of fencing. It is a joint venture between Duralock and Holden Plant Rentals (HPR), who will act as the conduit between Ireland’s premier racecourses and Duralock.

David Attwood, the former Racing and Operations Manager with Leopardstown, is now Head of Racing and Equestrian with Duralock. He said: “Duralock is currently working on a number of systems specifically designed to cater for the nuances of the Irish market, looking at the specific height and style requirements of the running rails used at Irish tracks. We’re very proud to be chosen for such a prestigious contract.”

Leopardstown appoints turf consultant

LEOPARDSTOWN Racecourse has engaged the services of specialist sports surface consultants STRI to assist in the review, implementation and continued improvements of the National Hunt and flat tracks at the course over the next two years.

The STRI Group is a global sports design, engineering and management consultancy, and is one of the world’s leading sports turf consultancy firms, having previously assisted Royal Ascot and Cheltenham. STRI commenced its work in July and will support the Leopardstown track team in delivering the best conditions for the forthcoming National Hunt season and beyond.

Implementations which have already commenced include increased aeration and planned irrigation to the chase track in support of the grounds team. The impact of this will maximize grass health, growth, sward density and root bed, providing a greater cushioned surface.

Along with adjustments to grass management, the racecourse will also be upgrading their vehicle fleet by investing in a new Verti-drainer, self-propelled mowers with a wider swath cutting capability to reduce wheel marking and compaction, and looking at the irrigation infrastructure and recommending upgrades.

Goffs UK returns to Yorton Farm

GOFFS UK will stage another sale of point-to-pointers at Yorton Farm in Wales on Thursday, December 2nd. In November 2020, a sale at Yorton saw Ellmarie Holden’s point-to-point winner Jonbon sell for £570,000 to J.P. McManus. The December Sale at the same venue matched that price when Donnchadh Doyle’s Classic Getaway was bought by Cheveley Park Stud.

Colic claims top racemare Solerina

SOLERINA, winner of 22 races, died from a bout of colic this week. The 24-year-old mare was trained by Michael Bowe and owned by his brother John. She won the Grade 1 Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse three times and there is now a graded race at that track named in her honour. A daughter of Toulon out of Deep Peace, she had 12 foals. Six of them have raced to-date and two of them have won.