F EATURE JON PULLIN
“Being Clerk of the Course at Cheltenham is the ultimate job”
Pullinwas grateful for the advice and assistance he received fromClaisse during a period of handover, before assuming clerking duties for the two days of The International in December. Anew job brings with it newand different challenges, but Pullin is adamant that he is enjoying everyminute and smiles: “It’s been hugely exciting forme to take over the reins for racing-relatedmatters here at Cheltenham and I am really enjoying the role. “Themeetings I have clerked so far – The International, NewYear’s Day and Festival Trials Day – have all taken place on the NewCourse, so I have been out on course a lot on non-racedays to get to know the differences and quirks of both the tracks. Ben Hastie, the Head of Groundstaff, has been a great help tome. “It has been unusual since I have been Clerk of the Course in thatwe have not hadmuch rain from autumn going intowinter.While I haven’t had tomake the decision towater the course as yet, Festival Trials Day for examplewas staged on Goodwhich is very rare for late January. The lack of rain presents some challenges in terms of turf recovery at the end of meetings. Of course,we’ll be monitoring conditions on a daily basis in the build-up toThe Festival™ andmaking the decision onwhetherwe have to irrigate.” Ground conditions also play a significant part inwhat Pullin considers to be an overriding aspect of his role – horsewelfare. He concludes: “Huge strides have beenmade to improvewelfare in recent years andwe must continue tomaintain this and also look at how we can continue tomake constant improvement.”
Ladbrokes, in a betting shop-based role. I ended up having responsibility for a number of shops but always missed the direct contactwith racing.” Fortunately, the hands on experiencewith racing that he craved came to fruitionwhen he gained a trainee Clerk of the Course position. “I became trainee Clerk of the Course at Uttoxeterwhen itwas under the Northern Racing banner and stayed there for three or four years. I moved toArena Leisure, andwas based in theMidlands initially, undertaking clerking duties at Southwell, Worcester andWolverhampton.WhenArena Leisure took over Doncaster, I assumed clerking duties there. “While I was at Doncaster, I took on amore central role andwhenwe brought starting stalls in-house atArena I ran that operation across the group. I thenmade the move south andwas Managing Director atWindsor for three and a half years, before moving back to a central rolewithArena Leisure, shortly before its mergerwith Northern Racing, as Assistant Racing Director. For the last three years up until I came to Cheltenham, I was Racing Director forArena Racing Company, as it is now.” Itwas during his time on TownMoor that Pullin received significant praise for his work on the track at Doncaster, an achievement he is rightly proud of. He recalls: “We did a lot of work on re-levelling the straight track prior to the opening of the newgrandstand in 2007. The trackwas in great conditionwhenwe reopened and verywell-received by racing professionals. The reopening gave the racecourse a new lease of life and got the St Leger Festival back towhere it belonged.” On his arrival at Cheltenham in the autumn of 2021,
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