British Horseracing Authority names Simon Cox as chair
Cox will take the chair at BHA at a challenging time for the horseracing sector amid the implementation of the Gambling Commission’s Financial Risk Checks.
UK.- The British Horseracing Authority has announced the appointment of Simon Cox as its new independent non-executive chair amid ongoing concerns over government policy on the Horserace Betting Levy and the Gambling Commission’s Financial Risk Assessments. He will assume his position on October 1 for an initial three-year term.
Cox, a master brewer by profession, has been a member of the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association (TBA) board of trustees since November 2021. He currently chairs the BHA’s Jump Pattern Committee, which makes recommendations to the BHA Board on how to continually strengthen the Jump Pattern and Listed programme.
A former Professional Jockeys Association (PJA) board member, Cox is also a member of the industry’s High Quality Horse group, which aims to contribute to wider work to grow the number of horses – and particularly top-class horses – being bred, owned, trained and raced in Britain.
An owner of racehorses for more than 15 years with four horses currently in training, Cox has established himself as a thoroughbred breeder, with 10 broodmares stationed at Shade Oak Stud, which is also home to St Leger winner-turned-stallion Logician, in whom Cox owns shares.
Experience in political lobbying
Cox spent over three decades in the international beer and beverage industry including senior leadership roles, overseeing global supply chain management, business transformation and turnaround. In 2014, he was appointed as European president and chief executive officer of Molson Coors.
The BHA noted that throughout his career Cox had established strong political relationships, most recently through board roles with the Portman Group, the British Beer & Pub Association and The Brewers of Europe. The authority sees his involvement in government engagement and lobbying, including the brewing industry campaign to abolish the beer duty escalator in 2013, as a potentially important asset amid its conflicts with the government over the Gambling Commission’s Financial Risk Assessments and the lack of any move on the Horserace Betting Levy.
Cox said that prior to commencing his role, he will meet and engage with people from across racing, breeding and betting to listen to their views, plan for the sport’s growth and future prosperity, and how the industry can work together to achieve them.
“It is an honour to be appointed Chair of the British Horseracing Authority at such an important moment for racing and breeding,” Cox said in a statement. “I enjoyed a long and fulfilling career in the brewing and beverage sector, but horseracing has always been my passion. I have been extremely fortunate to be involved in this wonderful sport for many years, during which I have learnt a great deal – and contributed a fair amount too, I hope.
“British racing and breeding is a worldwide success story. We are an industry that is globally renowned for our equine welfare standards, the fairness and integrity of our competition and the quality of our participants, our horses and our racing.
“It’s no secret that we face significant challenges and my focus will be on ensuring racing works together to address these, with a particular emphasis on growing participation in the sport, our customer base and critically our income streams. There is really good work already underway in so many areas, but there is also much to do to set our industry up to thrive for generations to come.”
Nominations Committee Chair and BHA Board member Kyrsten Halley described Cox as a “first-class candidate” in a highly competitive recruitment process.
“We were particularly impressed with Simon’s in-depth knowledge and understanding of British racing and breeding, accumulated over many years as an owner-breeder and investor in our sport, alongside his experience and expertise from a truly impressive commercial career,” she said.
“He is acutely aware of the nature of the challenges our industry faces and articulated a clear and compelling plan for how we seek to address them. His strong vision for how we make progress in key areas like the sport’s governance, growth strategy, equine and human welfare and government relations left us in no doubt that he has the credentials to provide exceptional leadership at a critical time for our industry.”
BHA Interim Chair and Senior Independent Director, David Jones, added: “He is also someone who possesses a steely determination and decisiveness and is, at heart, unwaveringly passionate about seeing British racing succeed. Simon has been a valuable asset to our industry for many years as a fan, owner, breeder, investor and active participant, and has the necessary skillset and demeanour to be an accomplished and successful BHA Chair.”
Ahead of joining the BHA Board, Cox will resign from his TBA trustee role, and his positions as Chair of the BHA Jump Pattern Committee and member of the High Quality Horse group.
