what to do about jack frost.

​Back in the early days of National Hunt, between the two world wars, I believe, a meeting at Catterick was about to fall victim to frost. In days of yore, of course, they were perhaps not exactly fussy about ground conditions, so one can only assume the frost had bitten hard into the ground. The Stewards, all local dignitaries, no doubt, would be keen for racing to go ahead as in those days race meetings were carnival affairs, looked forward to with mounting anticipation by sportsman and workers alike, but were cautious in giving the go-ahead in fear of generating adverse publicity.
A farmer, though, came up with a possible solution. As the temperature was rising and they had nothing to lose the stewards gave the farmer permission to execute his plan. So right up to the advertised time of the first race the farmer drove sheep around and around the course, the accumulation of hooved feet removing all trace of frost and leaving the course fit, if more than a little manured, for racing.
As I write, the main weather condition is a general lack of rain, soon to be alleviated, in the South-West, at least, by rain-bearing clouds that will visit our racecourses on a daily basis during the following seven days. Although Meteorologists continue to forecast feast or famine when it comes to weather over the coming years due to global warming, that does not mean National Hunt enthusiasts will not be subject to the anxiety of ‘Stewards’ Inspections’ and eleventh-hour abandonments due to frost.
Of all the extremes of weather that affect horse racing in this country I instinctively feel that frost should be the easiest to overcome. The incident at Catterick almost a hundred years ago suggests that a solution, in our technologically advanced society, should be at hand. Whether the powers-that-be have initiated any research into solving this wintery problem I cannot say, though if they have one can only surmise that they either failed to come up with an answer or that if they have found the answer it is too expensive to put into practise.
It is not recorded how deep the frost penetrated at Catterick. For the pounding of sheep hooves to have made the ground raceable, it is probably it was only minus two or three. Minus eight or more, as we know from experience, will defeat the best of modern-day fleece-covers and even if man could remove such a hard frost from the ground racing would no doubt still be abandoned due to the unsafe condition in and around the grandstand for race-goers. It is frustrating, though, when racing is abandoned due to slight frosts that refuse to budge from shadow or on the landing side of fences. Surely there must be a bit of kit that can be pulled behind a tractor to remove minus one to three from the ground?
I am not an inventor, and I dare say any ideas I come up with have already been mooted by far cleverer people than me. Like many of you, I have watched for years my other half drying her hair and thought ‘surely blades of grass are not that dissimilar to strands of hair for a similar device to be successful in defrosting the soil?’ When it comes to frost in shadow, if the air temperature is above nil degrees, why is there not a beefed-up version of a hair-dryer for clerks-of-the-courses to deploy?
In my minds’ eye a leaf-blower sort of device with a low-heat source attached is a possibility. Or a sprayer that applied a mist of warm water across frosted areas. Giant, though thin, hot-water bottles applied direct to frozen ground. Underground heating, as at football stadiums, in known vulnerable areas. Cleverer people could no doubt come up with more high-tech solutions than my Heath Robinson suggestions. By the way, the madcap, or ingenious and complex, devices of the cartoonist Heath Robinson did actually work, even if his name can be mistakenly associated with hare-brain ideas that have little chance of success.
I should know the cost of covering a racecourse in fleece to ‘ensure’ racing goes ahead. I don’t, of course, though it is easy to imagine it is many thousands of pounds. I am also unaware of the life-span of fleece-coverings, whether they are recyclable or what impact they have on the immediate environment once they begin to fray due to the rough handling needed to deploy them. And given the number of people required to lay the fleeces and to remove them before racing, it would perhaps be cost-effective to have at hand a more technological piece of kit to remove the frost rather than to cover the course to prevent frost penetrating the ground.
We are not talking about seeding clouds with silver nitrate to mess around with the laws of nature, as likely a reason, in my estimation, for the erratic weather patterns we are exposed to as global warming driven by the environmentally detrimental habits of you and I. I am merely advocating the temporary removal of frost for the purpose of not being deprived of the life-blood of my existence upon this Earth. Trivial, in the grand scheme of things? Well, consider this buzzkill to Xmas: Kempton Park, Boxing Day, the fleeces are deployed, all the top chasers in Britain and Ireland prepared to the minute to do joyous battle, Stewards Inspection after Stewards Inspection. Frost has got in under the covers on the turn into the straight. They wait for Mother Nature to come to our aid but alas She is busy elsewhere and cannot visit until two days hence! Christmas spoiled, the race rearranged, inconveniently to certain trainers, for January and Sandown Park. It is a great success; reason enough for the Jockey Club to close Kempton Park. And all for the lack of a warm air blowing machine!