About the Racecourse Managers Certificate Program
The Racecourse Managers Certificate Program is a newly launched series of continuing education programs for horse industry professionals. It was developed through a partnership between the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance, the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment and the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory. "Turfgrass as an Equine Sports Surface" is the first certification in the program.
Expert Programming
"Turfgrass as an Equine Sports Surface" consisted of three live webinars in June 2021. The sessions had over 13 national and international speakers, all experts in their fields. The webinars were recorded and split into invidual videos for ease of use, resulting in over 20 videos. All video content can be watched for free on the UK Ag Equine Programs YouTube channel or by using the links below.
“Grader School” was offered in September. Watch the videos here.
Certification by University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky will be administering the certification program for Turfgrass as an Equine Sports Surface. The fee for the certificate is $50. Please note that the $50 fee covers material for all three days. Anyone taking the certificate test will have access to all videos.
Enroll in the "Turfgrass as an Equine Surface" course here.
Sign Up
Sign up to receive email updates about the Racecourse Manager Certificate Program here. You will receive information about upcoming continuing education programs for racing and equine professionals, deadlines, zoom links, detailed agendas, etc.
If you have specific concerns or questions, email karin.pekarchik@uky.edu.
Racecourse Managers Certificate Program: "Grader School"
The Racecourse Managers Certificate Program: Grader School is the second continuing education program in the series. Grader School is a limited-enrollment, competitive program. Learn more here.
Sponsors
The Racecourse Managers Certificate Program: Turfgrass as an Equine Sports Surface has been generously supported by John Deere. Other sponsors include Duralock, Horsemen’s Track and Equipment, Inc., and Equinox Racing.
| Session | Video | Speaker(s) | Presentation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | Introduction and motivation for talks |
Jamie Richardson, Churchill Downs | N/A |
| 1.2 | Video: Cool Season Grass Selection | Mike Goatley, Ph.D., and Gregg Munshaw, Ph.D. | Presentation |
| 1.3 | Elizabeth Guertal, Ph.D. | Presentation | |
| 1.4 | Video: "Bluemuda (or overseeding) – can one really have it all for a turfed surface?" |
Gregg Munshaw, Ph.D., and Logan Freeman | Presentation |
| 1.5 | Video: Cool Season Turf Maintenance | Michael D. Boekholder | Presentation |
| 1.6 | Geoffrey Rinehart | Presentation | |
| 1.7 | Turfgrass selection to match the racing/competition season Video: Panel discussion | Panel discussion led by Gregg Munshaw, Ph.D. | N/A |
| Session | Video | Speaker(s) | Presentation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | Video: The why and where of racetrack aeration and repair | Pendergest | N/A |
| 2.2 | Video: Turfgrass aeration – why, how, when | Boekholder |
N/A |
| 2.3 | Video: How often in practice, lessons from Del Mar, Woodbine, Fair Grounds and Churchill | Dickenson, Pendergest and Gault | N/A |
| 2.4 | Video: John Deere R&D: Tractors selection (100 hp with creep), tires and tow versus 3-pt | John Deere | N/A |
| 2.5 | Video: Topdressing and surface maintenance. What can you add or use to eliminate wear and divots? Why pick one thing over another? | Rinehart, Freeman | Presentation |
| 2.6 | Video: Divot mix, germinating seed and the use of cutouts | Pendergest and Rogers | N/A |
| 2.7 | Video: Selection of cultivation equipment | Goatley and Guertal | Presentation |
