Magazine - Flemington's gardeners rose to challenge

By Editor in Racing / Equestrian on 31st Oct 2007 16:25

Much like the jockeys chasing Melbourne Cup glory, the gardeners at Flemington fear their charges may peak too early. Such was the case last year, when the course's famous roses bloomed prematurely.

But this year, grounds manager Terry Freeman says they have been timed to perfection due to some prudent pruning.

The racecourse has undergone its biggest overhaul in 150 years, including the replacement of 4000 ageing rose bushes among the 15,000 around Flemington.

Mr Freeman and his team of 16 gardeners anticipated another warm spring and pruned a fortnight later than usual to ensure the roses burst into bloom in time for next week's spring carnival.

"As it has turned out, I think this year we have managed to get it pretty right, although if it had gone back to average weather conditions, we could have been caught with our pants down," he said.

Flemington's rose of choice is the floribundas variety, chosen for its clusters of blooms rather than single stems that "look better on TV", Mr Freeman said.

Racegoers will find the colours more subtle this year — a mixture of apricot, dusty pink and cream-coloured blooms.

A new winning post will also be unveiled — a floral spectacular of bright marigolds and petunias.

Victoria Racing Club course manager Terry Watson is excited about the track that was laid in March using 124,000 square metres of turf grown at Torquay. Flemington had suffered a lack of uniformity in the track due to sections being upgraded over several years before this year's $12 million overhaul of the entire course over eight months.

The kikuyu grass blend requires less water and is expected to give the horses a more stable footing. The grass has a longer root structure and should therefore reduce the number of clods flying when the horses gallop on the track. Even the sandy loam soil used at Flemington was specially formulated for the track.

"It will be a much better and kinder surface than the old track was and we have raised the turnout of the straight and put a camber on it to make it more comfortable for the horses," Mr Watson said.

"Of course, you are never absolutely certain until the horses go around it but the jockeys have been very complimentary about it so far."

Source: http://www.theage.com.au/news

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