UK Jockey Club to leave Racecourse Association, joining Ascot to form breakaway group
The move creates a direct challenge to Arena Racing Company’s focus on volume racing to serve the betting market.
UK.- The Jockey Club, the operator of 15 leading British racecourses including Aintree, home of the Grand National, as well as Cheltenham, Epsom and Newmarket, is to leave the Racecourse Association (RCA) at the end of this year. The move follows Ascot’s decision to resign from the trade body and amid conflicts in the racing sector over how to respond in the face of challenges such as the lack of movement on the Horserace Betting Levy and the Gambling Commission’s Financial Risk Assessments.
The RCA currently represents 58 of the UK’s 59 tracks. The Jockey Club’s announcement comes after the RCA reported the findings of a governance review that proposed replacing the existing one vote per track system with a model in which four groups of racecourses would each hold a single vote.
Jim Mullen, chief executive of the Jockey Club, has dismissed the proposals as inadequate. He argued that they “fail to address our fundamental concern that the RCA can continue to act to stifle the necessary changes needed in the industry.”
Mullen added: “Nothing proposed would displace the RCA as the political representative of British racecourses and in our view, confirmed by recent discussions, the RCA would continue to vote against necessary changes.
Changes wanted by the Jockey Club include the introduction of an independent board at the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and substantive modifications to racing’s fixture list. Last month, the BHA appointed Simon Cox as its new independent non-executive chair. The RCA currently nominates two members to the BHA board, but its claim to be the “person most representative in Great Britain of the interests of owners of racecourses” could now be questioned following the exit of major racecourses.
“It is our intention to work with Ascot Racecourse and other like-minded industry partners to pursue a vision based on the long-term sustainability of the sport and we are in the early stages of establishing a new organisation to do this,” Mullen added.
The Jockey Club and Ascot’s departure sets up a direct challenge to Arena Racing Company (ARC), which runs 16 courses. ARC has focused on volume racing to serve the betting market. There are concerns that the split could deepen further if other major independents such as York, Goodwood, Newbury and Chester decide to follow suit.
