Market Rasen Racecourse Sandslitting

Having worked together for more than 20 years, Fineturf were pleased to return to Market Rasen Racecourse in late July 2024 to complete the final phase of a four-year project to sandslit the home straight.

The project, which commenced in 2020, had the objective of improving overall drainage of the area to better cope with climatic challenges and sustain a packed summer and winter meets season.

Due to the constraints of racing, three visits had already been conducted prior to the final phase which was scheduled to coincide with the venues summer break.

Sandslits were cut into the home straight at 1m centres, 50mm wide and to a depth of 300mm. The channels were then backfilled with 200mm of 2-6mm gravel and topped with 100mm of 70/30 rootzone mix. A compaction wheel was then used, and the trenches topped up to achieve a level finish, before being sown with MM60 winter sports renovation seed mix.

The track was then returned to the custodianship of the grounds team, who facilitated the recovery and final preparations ahead of a packed fixture list which takes the venue through to the summer of 2025.