Moonee Valley trialling milk to prepare track for Cox Plate

It sounds udderly ridiculous, but milk may be the secret to making the Cox Plate the greatest show on turf.

The humble bottle of milk could play a significant role in future editions of the Cox Plate.

No, the Moonee Valley Racing Club won’t add milk to the beverages available to punters at The Valley but good old “cow juice” could be on track.

Literally, on the track.

Track manager Marty Synan, who will be involved in preparing the Cox Plate course for the 41st year on Saturday, said his team is investigating the benefits of spraying milk on the grass.

“We continue to do a lot of research and continue to try a lot of things,” Synan said.

“As stupid as it sounds, we’re trialling milk to improve the calcium.”

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Synan and his team have another year to work on the ageing track before The Valley’s redevelopment after next year’s Cox Plate.

He said milk could be part of the maintenance program for the current and future Moonee Valley tracks should the test results warrant it.

“What we’re doing is working with some trial pods,” Synan said.

“We put in a lot of calcium when we fertilise but milk is actually more concentrated so you can actually get a higher reading.

“Because there are so many products we mix together in our fertiliser program, some of them might actually be doing nothing, so we trial them all individually.

“I don’t know what it will smell like if the milk goes off, but we’re just trialling it.

“We’re looking at over five hectares of grass, probably 10 litres of milk to cover the track.”

Moonee Valley track manager Marty Synan has been trialling the use of milk. Picture: Racing Victoria (Digitally altered image)

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Synan said The Valley’s track team was constantly trying new ideas to prepare the best possible surface for racing.

He said his team has tested various watering patterns to compensate for undulations in the track such as the nine-metre rise from the 800m point to the winning post.

Synan said the track staff have worked hard to ensure the most even surface for all participants at every meeting at The Valley.

An adjusted mowing technique has made a difference.

“When we mow, our mowers are quite wide,” Synan said.

“Because of the weight of the mowers and the continuous driving on some areas, they become firmer so you can get some lanes.

“So what we have been doing, we’ve been using a smaller mower and we’ve been getting closer tyre marks so it has helped even the track up a bit.

“It’s a time thing for us because it takes longer to do but we’ve found it has helped.

“When you see the things that we’re trying, it’s giving the jockeys the confidence that horses can run on and they have a chance.”

A dry weather forecast should ensure a good track, likely to be upgraded to a good (3), on Cox Plate Day.

Originally published as Moonee Valley trialling milk to prepare track for Cox Plate