Tuesday 7th April 2009
Prosser pleased with course condition
Prosser – happy with track health
WITH the start of Newmarket’s turf season upon us next week, Clerk of the Course Michael Prosser has given an upbeat appraisal of track conditions.
The Rowley Mile has come through a harsh winter to blossom during a kind early-spring, leaving Prosser to state: “The general health of the course is very good.”
Rainfall from January 1 through to the end of March was in line with the past two years. There was 157millimetres in the first three months of the year as opposed to 168mm last year and 140mm in 2007.
January, 2009, was bitter with snow and hard frosts, which are reflected in the stats for mean air temperature and mean soil temperature. The former was 2.6 degrees, while the latter was 3 degrees. Mean air temperature was 7 degrees in both 2007 and 2008 and the soil figures for those years were 6.1 and 6.2 celsius – all underlining just how cold it was in the first month of this year.
But the clement conditions over the past four weeks have given a uniform appearance on the year-on-year stats heading into the season. The mean air temperature was recorded as 6.4 degrees, warmer than last year when it was 5.8 degrees.
Similarly, the 2009 March mean soil temperature of 6.9 degrees celsius compares favourably to its equivalent of 6.2 a year earlier. 2007’s mean air and soil temperatures were both higher than this year’s, but only marginally so.
Not surprisingly – given the January statistics – the course was mown later this year than in the two previous. The Rowley Mile’s first cut was in the last week in February, whereas it was completed in the first week of the same month in 2008.
Prosser was also able to provide weather details for the seven days commencing Monday April 6.
He said: “The forecast is for 16-18mm over the next six days – Tuesday to Monday. Currently, the long-term prediction is for a high pressure to build for the Craven meeting, bringing drier and warmer weather.”
For more information please contact:
Michael Prosser, Clerk of the Course and Director of Racing, 01638 675 500 or
Tony Rushmer, Racing PR Manager, 01638 675 509
www.newmarketracecourses.co.uk
