Racecourse Association Launches 2025 Racecourse Groundstaff Awards
The Racecourse Association (RCA) has opened the 28th annual Racecourse Groundstaff Awards is for submissions.
The Racecourse Groundstaff Awards, the original and only recognised industry awards for racecourse groundstaff, celebrate the best of the profession both on an individual and team level in terms of surface preparation, turf husbandry, and overall contribution to British horseracing.
The core Racecourse Groundstaff Awards celebrate the winners and runners-up across the three racecourse types: flat, jump and dual purpose. The winners of each category will go onto the RCA’s Showcase Awards on Thursday 13th November at York Racecourse, where an overall Groundstaff Champion will be crowned. Previous winners of the Racecourse Groundstaff Awards can be viewed here.
As well as celebrating groundstaff teams, the Racecourse Groundstaff Awards include individual prizes to acknowledge individuals operating at exceptional levels:
- The Richard Linley Award recognises an individual who has joined the industry in the past two years and has considerably improved their skills, shown determination and has a passion for learning. The award is about celebrating new groundstaff into the industry across Great Britain who have shown huge growth and improvement in their work.
- The Neil Wyatt Lifetime Achievement Award is a longstanding award for individuals who have given exceptional service over many years to a racecourse or the racing industry.
- The Special Merit Award allows the judges to recognise outstanding work by any individual or team.
All racecourses are automatically considered for the core awards, however submissions are encouraged to highlight the exceptional work of the grounds teams. This process is now open, and will close on Thursday 4th September, in line with the wider RCA Showcase Awards.