2024 Racecourse Groundstaff Awards Winners
The Racecourse Association (RCA) has announced the winners of the Racecourse Groundstaff Awards for 2024.
Sponsored by Agrovista Amenity, DLF Seeds & Science and Duralock the award winners were decided by an industry panel comprised of representatives from the Professional Jockeys Association (PJA), British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and National Trainers Federation (NTF).
The winners across the three racecourse categories are as follows:
Flat winner – York Racecourse
Jump winner – Aintree Racecourse
Dual purpose winner – Carlisle Racecourse
The runners-up were:
Flat runners-up – Bath and Royal Windsor Racecourses
Jump runner-up – Cheltenham Racecourse
Dual purpose-runner up – Newbury Racecourse
Consequently, York, Aintree and Carlisle will all be in the running to be crowned the 2024 Racecourse Groundstaff Champion. The announcement will be made at the thirteenth annual RCA Showcase Awards held at The Signet Library, Edinburgh on Thursday 7th November.
The winners and runners-up are deemed to have demonstrated the highest levels of commitment, innovation and excellence across the year to racecourse groundsmanship and turf husbandry. The racecourses all showed impressive dedication to environmental sustainability, innovation, equine welfare and training.
William Derby, Chief Executive and Clerk of the Course, at York said: “We are thrilled to win the Flat Racecourse Groundstaff Award for 2024 and it is a tremendous tribute to the hard work and efforts of all the team at York led by Adrian Kay and Anthea Leigh.
“York has been delighted to welcome a record number of horses to York this year and to stage some fantastic racing across the season, including City of Troy’s breathtaking win in the Juddmonte International. This is only possible because of the combination of talent, endeavour and investment by all concerned to provide a suitable racing surface for these wonderful horses to perform.
“We dedicate this win to Kevin Upton, our dear friend and colleague who gave over 30 years’ service to the York grounds team and who lost his long battle with cancer in July. Kev exemplified all that is great about groundstaff—a team player with a dedication that was second to none, an appetite to innovate and improve and a cheery disposition whatever the weather, time of day or circumstance!”
Sulekha Varma, Clerk of the Course, said: “We are hugely honoured to have been named Racecourse Groundstaff Awards Jumps Course of the Year. The past 12 months have been incredibly busy for the team, taking on some high impact projects in-house as part of the delivery of the changes to the Grand National that we announced in October 2023.
The team took our focus on equine welfare to heart and came up with their own suggestions and recommendations as part of the process and we are proud of the way the whole team engaged in the delivery of the initiatives. Like groundstaff across the whole country, the Aintree team work on whatever the weather and face up to all challenges, but what they have achieved in the past year has been particularly notable and we are delighted it has been recognised.”
Harry Phipps, Clerk of the Course, said: “We are thrilled to have been named as this year’s Dual-Purpose Category Award winner. It means a great deal to the team considering the competitiveness of the award, especially as a small racecourse.
“Carlisle is well known for its challenging weather conditions and this year has been much the same. Regardless, the team has shown great resilience and dedication, ensuring Carlisle can provide a great racing product for all participants. Congratulations to Thomas, Adam, Dan and Davey within our core grounds team, as well as our extended team in the stable yard and out on the track.”
In addition to this, three further awards were given:
- The Richard Linley Award to Nathan Durrance from Great Yarmouth, in recognition of his enthusiasm and commitment to working hard and developing his skills since joining the team in July 2023.
- The Neil Wyatt Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Charlie Moore from Arena Racing Company in recognition to his contribution to the sport over his impressive career.
- The Special Merit Award was given to all racecourses who experienced severe flooding during their season. It has been a relentless year for the courses who faced flooding and every team did an outstanding job during this time.
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