Turf talk can you feel it




















Bang there the last day and still only off That Fairyhouse form was franked by Charlie Stout at Thurles earlier this month too.

Bang there in this last year, should have won the Thyestes, ran a belter in the National… This horse has a big one in him, and showed it in the Becher the last day.

Jumped ok fine, the odd wobble and travelled with every chance when not quite fit. Hopefully Mr. A very special word about the The Crafty Butcher, under the joint ownership of two good friends, Paul Byrne and Patrick Mullins, and two young upstarts from the world of the oval ball. The very best of luck lads, if by some bizarre turn of events your eyes end up on this!

If the money comes tomorrow, my interest might be piqued. Yes indeed, a very cheesy festive greeting to you all, as I tap away here full of the joys of life, we lie in wait of the main event — sport. After many, many gin and tonics and even more hours contemplating the issue, I have decided that small talk in the run up to Christmas can be treated much akin to a fight. A festive duel, if you will. Who can out-bamboozle the other with mundane dross about turkeys and trees? But the season of advent does not give you the free rein to disengage your brain when embarking in conversation with your fellow wo man.

Did you ever get that leak sorted? Possibly even towards a Champions League spot. Outspoken is the danger and will improve. Baupaume is without doubt the improver and gets weight here. Soir De Chantenay is going in the tracker for the Fred Winter, you heard it here first. The other on the list was Another Challenge — a rating of with 7lb claimed off would give him very good shout here. Good run the last day too. Enjoy the spectacle. Chase form: 4,7,9,10… Given a chase mark of , wins first time in a handicap, hiked to , wicked mistake at the final fence in Cork to be beaten a short head the last day, up to … Still well handicapped.

See you at Leopardstown! Ughhhhhh, that was rough. Vautour winning and Valseur Lido placing steadied the ship to an extent, helped by Bloody Mary running into a place, but those aside it was tough out there. I just about came out with a few bob, but it feels very much like a losing day inside. Qualando , a festival winner form last year still looks well handicapped and has a great chance in this.

An honourable mention for Bright New Dawn who has an each way sqeuak at a price. Long House Hall got me a few bob but it was Diego du Charmil who really got me out of, what was looking starting to look like, a very big hole indeed.

Maybe not following my tips is a good place to start lol , but I tend to decrease my stakes and keep it each way on the third day. For the most part!! Won first time out after a long lay off up in Musselburgh and is probably still ahead of the handicapper off Back over timber, this horse has ran with aplomb in graded company in the past. Vautour ticks all the boxes back to 2m4f and should see these off.

One for the accumulators. Valseur Lido could place at a decent each way price. The Powell cows might have to milk themselves in Bray on Friday morning should the old boy get the job done. On the go since AM for an action packed round trip to Cheltenham. Tiring and all as it was, it was an absolute blast. What an electrifying performance, albeit in a middling Champion Hurdle, but it was great to see a mare winning the Champion Hurdle for the first time in over 20 years.

Less so with Min. I think Altior could be very good. I stand by that even with Yorkhill in the race. I think he could be really really top drawer and he looked an absolute monster winning last time out over the same course and distance making Shantou Village look like a cart horse. The first is Politologue who was shaped well on his three starts in Britain whilst being unlucky twice.

The other is Long House Hall who did nothing but improve for the Skeltons last season. After unseating on his seasonal reappearance over fences he comes straight here.

Still well handicapped over timber…I think. Un de Sceaux wins bar a fall. If you are thinking about backing something in the race, just worth pointing out this is no longer a handicap. If you were looking for one at a bigger price for an each way bet, I thought Romanised won well in Navan back in April, winning a decent maiden including the likes of Declarationofpeace, Wolfofbaggottstreet and Another Batt in behind.

I assume that price is given she won the Abbaye and the Palace House on her last two starts. Now, on both of those runs Washington DC was second to her, within a length each time. I have no major opinion on the race, but that formline and those prices could be an interesting angle in hindsight. Maybe this would finally get it for him.

Handles this ground and should stay on well. Market vibes will be intersting from the Wesley Ward camp. One of those two horses will likely go off quite hard making it a fair gallop.

Hopefully there might be something in there to keep us going. The dogs are barking for this fella and the price is shortening all the while. Normally horses of this calibre progress into open company. Although the old adage of juveniles not training on in the NH game does often ring true, I think he still retains a fair bit of ability and could be in with a right shout in handicap company. However, this race has a tendency has to throw up the occasional upset. The one I like to oppose the fav is Wholestone who has ran at Cheltenham no less than the last four times he has ran.

And ran well each time, too. The one at an each way price I like is Champagne West who absolutely bolted up in the Thyestes, a race that often produces some decent Gold Cup form. He normally puts in a stinker first time, but ran a lovely race in the Raymond Smith at Leopardstown on Irish Gold Cup day in behind the match fit Foxrock.

I think Runfordave could run a big race in this. By a sire I really like and ran a great race the last day, when winning, to secure a spot in this. Broke his maiden at Cheltenham back earlier in the season and the step up in trip should not be an issue. Day 2 was an absolute scorcher in Cheltenham, but whilst the sun may have been easy to spot in the clear blue sky, most punters, including my good self, struggled to spot the winners. Was even money Wednesday morning and on the drift.

Bounced away at Leopardstown the last day and looked impressive under Sean Flanagan. Second behind Impulsive Star at Exeter last time when giving away a bundle of weight. I think this son of Oscar could well out run his price tomorrow and go close for Tom George and Adrian Heskin who are bang in form this season.

Looked so good in the Troytown, ran a belter in the Irish Gold Cup. He should be bang there. Was very well fancied ahead of the Martin Pipe last year but underperformed. Hopefully chasing will bring out the best in this son of Martaline this year!

The less said about day 1, the better. A howler from yours truly. Although, Labaik did put a smile on my face! Has had a mixed start to his chasing career, but is top class on his day. Mouse is coming in to a bit of form too. Pass it on. Warmed to the task quite well over this course and distance in January and looks to mae it a festival hat trick! Right now, I want to discuss how superintendents should deal with them.

Does color matter to the rater? Pardon me … aesthetics. What do houses do for aesthetics? Is it still charming if the interstate was added 50 years after the course was built? Or power lines? Or an airport? Conditioning also includes how firm, fast and rolling were the fairways, or how firm, yet receptive, were the greens and how true the ball rolled on them the day the rater played. It makes sense that busy private clubs, that might want the prestige of appearing on the lists, must think of their members first and not let raters on until the off-season.

So, the course may not be at its best, visually or condition-wise. We all know how few golfers understand that, in agronomy, timing is everything. Turf transition, end of season, wear and tear. At certain points in any season courses are just flat-out tired. But what is important is the effect that ratings — making them, not making them, dropping down or climbing — have on the superintendent.

For some courses, doing better means hiring a course architect and undergoing a renovation — if not a total rebuild. And very few daily-fee courses like Bethpage Black or Pebble Beach. The same to courses are going to consistently make the ratings because they deserve to. Those same courses are also going to be in great condition most of the time because they hire the most qualified people they can find and give them the resources they request.

You and I know that. Do your members? With so many great courses, when it comes to deciding between one or another, if just a handful of raters hit that one after it rained or too early or late in the season, something as insignificant as slower-than-normal greens could make the difference.

Ratings are here to stay. If your course is one that already makes the rating grade or aspires to, congratulations and good for you. The political math alone tells you to be mindful of long-term sustainability on the golf course.

Since only one out of 12 in the population play golf, the other 11 have no experience or understanding of what is involved out there. That means public opinion looks askance at what you are doing. And should it ever come to a jury trial in which the golf course is up for scrutiny in a civil case, the odds are against you finding a favorable judgment. That might seem a harsh way of putting it. But the point is that part of what it takes today to be a golf course superintendent is to educate the public.

Far too few everyday citizens have much idea of the environmental benefits of a well-managed golf course. Indeed, not enough golfers take the time to appreciate how their game contributes to the well-being of ecological systems — everything from flora, fauna and hydrology to ambient cooling and flood control.

Actually, it was for their kids and grandkids, which made it even more fun. Six kids and 11 parents and grandparents participated, with each of the youth getting to work on a bird box as well as receiving a pair of binoculars, a bag of bird seed and a Valley CC bird watching club certificate. Afterwards, Bauer took the kids out for a little bird watching expedition. The Audubon Sanctuary-certified golf course provides a welcoming habitat for birds, both nesting and migratory.

Among the more frequently sighted birds are robins, magpies, Western blue birds, mallards and bufflehead ducks. Turning the golf course into a learning experience for kids is the goal of the First Green program. Started by superintendents in , it is now run by the GCSAA and includes K students, though the majority of the attendees are fifth-, sixth- and seventh-graders. The hope is to have the program introduce them to both golf and practical science.

Another good way to make wildlife habitats known is simply through signage. If kept simple and uncluttered, such indicators can be informative as well as provide a bit of safety margin by way of subtly warning golfers to stay away from sensitive areas.

The key is knowing which stretches of the layout are beyond the reach of most play. GPS tracking can be an essential device in developing verifiable boundaries for these out-of-play areas. These are worn by golfers to track movement during a round and help superintendents establish areas that are really those out-of-the-way areas. None of this will reach wider public awareness without a determined effort to get the public informed and involved.

Reach out to local garden clubs, hiking groups, birding clubs and land trust associations, for example, and develop times when you can give guided tours of the golf course. Work closely with municipal authorities in developing relationships so they are familiar with your property and learn to appreciate it not simply as a taxable asset but also as a wildlife refuge and stormwater management zone.

Share the growing literature documenting the positive community value of having a golf course as a water filtration system and greenspace. As a superintendent your job is focused on a well-defined property. Increasingly these days, however, stewardship of that land means communicating its value to outside parties. It also means anticipating potential friction by educating people in advance of a potential conflict as to the real value provided by the land you oversee.

Bradley S. Klein, Ph.



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