THE Ayr Racecourse grounds team have been honoured in the 2016 Racecourse Groundstaff Awards by being named runner up in the Dual Purpose category.

In awarding the runner up slot, the Racecourse Association panel highlighted the consistently high standards at Ayr Racecourse, and particularly noted improvements to their fences and track management practices.

And there was a further feather in the caps of the Ayr team who picked up a discretionary Merit award to recognise their community engagement programme which provides training and employment within the local community.

This year instead of using a turf management team from Wolverhampton to work on the track following racing Ayr recruited its own local squad of workers who now ensure the track is in the best possible condition spending hours between races and after racing meticulously repairing affected areas.