Garland started his new position late last year after former racecourse manager Scott Jarvis and his assistant Casey Arendarcikas accepted the same positions at the Coffs Harbour Racing Club.

Albury is the first racecourse Garland has worked at after completing his greenkeeping apprenticeship at Lavington Sports Club before moving to play for Werribee in the VFL and working alongside a contractor responsible for the maintenance of Skilled Stadium in Geelong.

“I learnt a lot about greenkeeping while at Werribee for 14 months and what it takes to prepare a ground for the elite level of AFL,” Garland said.

“I moved back to Albury and was working at Wodonga golf course but jumped at the opportunity once the position at the race club became available.”

Former long-time curator Peter Quirk spent 10 days with Garland after he started and shared some of his vast knowledge.

“Peter was fantastic and showed me how he used to prepare for a race meeting and his knowledge was invaluable,” Garland said.

“It has been a steep learning curve and I’m learning things as each race meeting goes by and asking a lot of questions.

“I’m still learning all the racing terminology, the track ratings and the horses’ specific needs.

“It certainly is a lot different preparing a surface for a 500-kilogram horse compared to a 90-kilogram footballer.”

Garland is also a talented footballer who scored a runaway victory in Lavington’s best and fairest count last year.

Albury chief executive John Miller was confident Garland would have little trouble adapting to his role.

“Luke is a quality young man and although he hasn’t worked at a racecourse before he has shown he is keen to learn and has picked up things quickly,” Miller said.