NEWS: BARONESS DIDO HARDING HIGHLIGHTS NEED TO “LISTEN AND LEARN” FROM RACING FANS, TRAINERS, JOCKEYS, OWNERS AND BREEDERS AS SHE BEGINS TENURE AS SENIOR STEWARD OF THE JOCKEY CLUB

Friday 12th July

Baroness Dido Harding has underlined the importance of prioritising the experiences of all horseracing fans, participants and those who contribute to the industry after starting her new role as Senior Steward of The Jockey Club.

Highlighting the need to “listen and learn” from all those who visit The Jockey Club’s racecourses and facilities, Baroness Harding said it was “a huge honour and privilege” to succeed Sandy Dudgeon, who has held the position since July 2019.

Serving for a term of five years, Baroness Harding will chair The Jockey Club’s main board, which sets the strategic direction of the organisation and oversees its executive functions.

The Jockey Club is the largest employer and commercial organisation in British horseracing and one of the leading sports businesses operating in the UK. It is governed by Royal charter, ensuring all its profits are reinvested back into racing. His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen were announced as The Jockey Club’s first joint Patrons in May of this year. The Jockey Club’s previous Patron was Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Baroness Harding, 56, has been on the Board of Stewards since the end of 2017, having been appointed a Member of The Jockey Club in 2004.

She was previously a racecourse committee member at The Jockey Club’s Cheltenham Racecourse and a director of Racecourse Holdings Trust, which was later renamed Jockey Club Racecourses. She rode successfully as an amateur jockey in the 1980s and 1990s, riding 25 winners and has owned racehorses all her adult life. Her best horse, Cool Dawn, progressed from hunter chases all the way to the very top when successful in the 1998 running of Jump racing’s most prestigious race, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, trained by Robert Alner and ridden by Andrew Thornton.

Outside of racing Baroness Harding has had a 25-year career in business and the public sector and has been a Member of the House of Lords since 2014.

Upon taking over as Senior Steward, which is an unpaid role, Baroness Dido Harding said: “The role of the Board of Stewards is to be both support and challenge to The Jockey Club’s leadership team, to protect and champion the organisation and our sport and to ensure we all live up to our mission to further the long term good of racing.

“Sandy has led The Jockey Club as Senior Steward through some extraordinary and unprecedented times over the last five years. He will be a very difficult act to follow and it is a huge honour and privilege to succeed him.

“There is no doubt that our sport continues to face some significant challenges. The impact of the pandemic and inflation on the cost of living is creating issues for every sports and entertainment business, and we are no different. Changing attitudes to animal welfare, the role of horses in modern life and our increasingly urban society, not to mention how technology is changing how all of us spend our leisure time, mean that it has never been more important that we listen to and learn from all those who come racing and contribute to or follow the sport.”

The Jockey Club announced last month that its Group Chief Executive, Nevin Truesdale, had asked the Board of Stewards to begin the process of finding his successor and it is anticipated that he will step down at the end of the year.

Baroness Harding added: “While my immediate priority is to oversee the recruitment of a new Chief Executive, my primary focus over the coming years is to encourage all of us at The Jockey Club to deliver the best experiences for and act in the best interests of those who love our sport and the millions of people who visit us at our various locations every year, whether as fans, trainers, jockeys, owners or breeders.

“People from all backgrounds and walks of life have enjoyed a great day out watching horses race for hundreds of years and all across the world. British racing, with our incredible diversity of racecourses, history and heritage has been at the forefront of the sport for all that time and I am utterly convinced that our future is a positive one.

“The Jockey Club stages events that capture the hearts and minds of the nation, runs venues that are important contributors to our local communities and we all care passionately about what we do. It’s so important, therefore, that our roles on racecourses, at our training centres, The National Stud and in the many support functions is focused on delivering the best possible experiences for all.”

The Jockey Club - 2024 Board of Stewards
Baroness Dido Harding, Senior Steward
The Lord Grimthorpe, Deputy Senior Steward
William Rucker, Steward
William Sporborg, Steward
Tim Syder, Steward
Sam Waley-Cohen, Steward
Lady Carolyn Warren, Steward
William Wyatt, Steward

About The Jockey Club
Founded in 1750 The Jockey Club is today the largest employer and commercial organisation in British horseracing and one of the leading sports businesses operating in the UK.

The Jockey Club is governed by Royal charter, ensuring all profits are reinvested back into racing, which is Britain’s second biggest spectator sport.

The Jockey Club runs 15 of the UK’s racecourses – large and local – and is charged with looking after some of the nation’s biggest events, including the Randox Grand National Festival at Aintree, The Cheltenham Festival, The Betfred Derby Festival at Epsom Downs and the Betfred Guineas Festival at Newmarket.

Thousands of racehorses also use The Jockey Club’s training centres in Newmarket, Lambourn and Epsom every year, while the organisation also runs The National Stud in Newmarket and the charity, Racing Welfare, which makes help available to everyone in racing.

The Jockey Club’s joint Patrons are His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen.

For more information, please visit www.thejockeyclub.co.uk