Grassland management on a Grand scale

For five long months, a 14ac stretch of ground in Co Meath has been carefully prepared for one special day.

The track for the Irish Grand National got a bag of CAN to the acre three weeks ago and has been topped twice a week in the run-up to Monday’s showcase race.

Throughout the winter, a team of groundsmen have been replacing divots by hand. They use forks instead of rolling with a tractor in order to minimise compaction of the ground.

There will be 55 men on the track repairing all the divots and preparing the track for each day's racing.

For the twice weekly topping, the staff use a 110-horsepower New Holland fitted with special grass sports tyres, again to minimise damage to the ground.

The 66ac of racing ground is all old pasture consisting of ryegrass, with no clover to be seen.

The 21ft Allied Tidec mower cuts the grass to the perfect height – between 3.5 and four inches – for the best horses in Ireland and England to gallop and jump on.

The 14ac track to be used for the Irish Grand National is completely fresh and rested and hasn’t been used for the last five months.

The race itself is a Grade A handicap steeplechase run over three miles and five furlongs. The 24 fences require 21,000 individual birch sticks to be constructed.

According to racecourse manager Peter Roe, the optimum ground needed to satisfy the majority of horses going in Monday’s big race would be good to yielding.

The Irish Grand National is a Grade A Handicap Steeplechase, run over a marathon three miles and five furlongs and over 24 fences.

Watch: how to measure grass with a plate meter

22t of grass growth in Galway