The climax of the jump racing season is the Cheltenham Gold Cup in mid-March and for many it is seen as the best day's racing of the year.
Over two hundred and thirty two thousand racegoers flocked to the Cotswold venue this year to enjoy the four terrific days of action.
The concentration of such a crowd in one place over those days is a logistics challenge to the people responsible for ensuring the fastest response to emergencies, on and around the course. As in any sport, injuries occur, horses may suffer heat exhaustion, jockeys may fall. Equally, amongst the crowd, the odds are on considerable numbers of people needing medical attention throughout the festival.
Cheltenham has four Polaris ATVs/UTVs to provide the swiftest reaction to any emergency. A Sportsman 400 is used as a general purpose vehicle by groundscare staff and as a back-up vehicle.
Tony Twiggs is the Race Course Medical Co-ordinator and he predominantly uses a Sportsman 550, as well as the 400. He is responsible for mobilising the emergency services and the Polaris is his fast way to move around the large area of the racecourse. "The Sportsman is such a versatile tool, very manoeuvrable and ideal when you're dealing with crowds." Says Tony. "One of its uses is to drive ahead of an ambulance.
"As it's open and quiet enough for people to hear me, I can clear a way between the crowds to get the ambulance through. We have a blue flashing light on it and people take notice and move. It's also small and compact to move around freely in all conditions. While the acceleration is quick, it's easy to drive slowly as well and comfortable for working the hours we do."
Race Horse Ambulance Ltd. is one of the organisations working with Cheltenham and director Sebastian Garner uses the course's Ranger 400 as a rapid response vehicle to treat horses on the course.
"We have horse ambulances parked up in readiness but initially we use the Polaris as the fastest means of reaching a horse that may be injured or in distress," he says, "the Ranger enables us to carry water and all the equipment we need for initial assessment and treatment. A horse may be just overheated and getting water on them quickly is essential."
Horses winded or lame may need transporting back in a horse ambulance and Sebastian's aim is assess the need for this and be able to quickly return with the vehicle. "The Ranger is a fantastic piece of our kit, it's quick, easy to manoeuvre and operate, just what we need for rapid response."
On standby at the St John's Ambulance First Aid Unit is the course's Ranger Diesel, again used as a fast transport for the paramedics to reach an injured jockey or member of the public, carrying oxygen and equipment. It's also used to transport members of the public back to the unit.
"People have falls or simply become unwell. Older people really appreciate it for getting them comfortably back for treatment. Polaris have been fantastic over the years, we value Polaris and what they provide," adds Sebastian.
Polaris is now the world's No1 in All-terrain Vehicles.
