Buckley heads for new pastures after 23 years tending the turf

Course clerk kept show on the road at his final Glorious meeting, writes Alan Tyers at Goodwood

It is the end of an era here today as Seamus Buckley, clerk of the course for 23 years, pokes his going-test stick into the turf for the last time at a Glorious Goodwood meeting.

Buckley, 65, retires at the end of the season. If he had been hoping for a gentle easing up in his final furlong, he was not in luck this week. With 50mm of rain in 12 hours on Wednesday, the longtime curator has been flat out.

“On Wednesday evening, I was quite worried that we might not be able to continue,” he said. “But I just kept my head down and kept going. We did a lot on Wednesday night and moved the rail. The team’s hard work paid dividends.”

The racecourse general manager, Alex Eade, felt that Buckley was being modest about his expert contribution.

“This has been one of the hardest weeks for any clerk at any racecourse,” he said. “Without Seamus, we would have struggled. There aren’t many courses that wouldn’t have abandoned.”

Longtime No 2 Ed Arkell, who will take over from Buckley, agreed. “His are huge shoes to fill,” he said. “He has passed on some of the nuances of the track, all the things that seem small until they go wrong. Things like the position of the drainage under the turf, stuff that you couldn’t really know unless somebody handed the knowledge down to you.”

Buckley did not intend to become a master of racetrack preparation. Born on the stud farm near Naas that his father managed, he envisaged a more direct route to racing excellence: riding. His brother Pat, older by nine years, was just 19 when he rode 66-1 shot Ayala to glory in the 1963 Grand National.

“My younger brother was always a wild one,” said Pat. “He had a fall riding at Doncaster when he was 20, fractured his skull in five places. He was unconscious for 21 days. When he was first coming round after the injury, you’d go and see him and he didn’t know who you were. I’d say ‘Am I [another brother] Denis?’ and he’d just look blank. Or ‘Am I [yet another brother] Willie?’ nothing. One day, I said ‘Am I Mary?” and he laughed. That was the first connection he made, and he began to get better.”

There will definitely be no case of mistaken identity for Seamus Buckley at Goodwood, where he walks the course every day, rain or shine, and where he is a muchloved figure. He lives only a mile away. In retirement, he plans to spend time with his other passions, Leinster rugby and Wolves football club. When he was clerk at Wolverhampton, he was mates with the Molineux groundsman and traded badges and tickets.

He will not have any problems getting the red-carpet treatment on any Goodwood return and he has vowed to make his first visit as a spectator armed with “a picnic, a lot of Champagne, and my mates”.

“I would not be human if I did not feel emotional,” he said. “I am going to feel a bit choked up by it. But I am not going to start crying.”

If nothing else, he would not want any more moisture added to his beloved course.