BHA CEO to stand down this year

The Chief Executive of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) will stand down at the end of 2020.

UK.- Nick Rust, chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), will step down at the end of 2020 after six years as leader of the governing body and regulator. Rust communicated the decision to the staff this week.

Rust said that the Horse Welfare Board, which the BHA set up last year, is finalising an ambitious strategy for further improvement of racing’s standards. He will begin the process of implementing the plan, but he believes that given his decision, “it’s the right time for someone else to pick up the challenge of delivering on these ambitions through a programme of work we expect to take five years or more.”

“The BHA has also completed some other important work over the past few months, which I have personally championed. We published the review of the buying and selling of horses just before Christmas. We have established a safeguarding team to protect young and vulnerable people in our sport. Our new approach to raceday stewarding is bedding in and the industry is picking up the challenge on diversity and inclusion as we saw so vividly in 2019 through the amazing story of Khadijah Mellah and the remarkable achievements of our female jockeys,” said Rust.

The BHA confirmed through a statement that the authority will begin the process of selecting a new Chief Executive in the next few weeks, in order to be ready when Rust steps down at the end of the year.