New £250k irrigation system in place for Perth Festival

Perth Racecourse has welcomed significant investment ahead of its season opener, including the installation of a new irrigation system.

It is hoped the new system will provide a safe and consistent surface. Picture: Fraser Band

Keep up to date with all our sport news on The Scotsman’s Sport page on Facebook

The Perth Festival, starting 26 April, will also see an increased average of its daily prize funds of 10 per cent, while offering at least £70,000 prize money at six of its 15 fixtures.

The three-day event may see the UK’s most northerly racecourse put its new £250,000 irrigation system to the test for the first time, in the hope of providing a safe and consistent surface.

As a matter of priority, the entire irrigation system was completely replaced over the winter.

Perth Racecourse chief executive Hazel Peplinksi described the resulting enhancement as “beyond compare”.

She said: “With this substantial investment we can now be far more flexible in the application of any artificial irrigation to the racing surface, which is so important when dealing with the vagaries of a Scottish summertime.

“In an instant, we have reduced the time it takes to complete an irrigation cycle, which shall allow us to work with the weather forecasts rather than have to second guess them.

“This new system is like night and day and we are very excited because ground conditions are everything when it comes to staging successful summer jumping.”