BHA

A total of 15 new independent judicial panel members were announced by His Honour Brian Barker CBE QC, the independent Judicial Panel Chairman to the British Horseracing Authority on Thursday. The previous judicial panel members' term expires at the end of the month and the new members will begin their duties on Sept. 1 for a term of three years. The role of the new members will be responsible for holding enquiries under the Rules of Racing, hearing appeals against the BHA's racecourse stewards' decisions and, where appropriate, imposing penalties...

Representatives of the British Horseracing Authority, horsemen and racecourses have agreed on a plan for the next stages of the industry's recovery plan from COVID-19. The recovery plan lists nine industry goals, which are as follows: To secure a full resumption of race-day activity, with the best possible ownership and spectator experience, and the maximum attendance possible; To maintain the health and safety of participants, staff and all those attending raceday meetings by continuing the safe return of racing and adherence to strict controls on social distancing; To put in...

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has announced the appointment of Julie Harrington to the role of chief executive from January 2021. A former BHA board member during her eight years as a senior executive with Northern Racing, Harrington has been the CEO of British Cycling for almost four years. She has also previously been managing director of Uttoxeter Racecourse and operations director of the Football Association (FA), during which time she was responsible for Wembley Stadium and the FA's training facility, St George's Park. A statement released by the BHA...

A number of changes have been made to the equine anti-doping rules in the UK, the British Horseracing Authority announced on Wednesday. These changes have been made following a comprehensive review of the sport's anti-doping rules announced in 2018. Individual trainers and the National Trainers Federation were consulted, with additional input from both the UK and World Anti-Doping Agencies and sports bodies such as the FEI. Northridge LLP, a specialist sports law practice, also provided independent legal advice on the rule changes. In summary, the changes, which will go into...

Daniel and Claire Kubler have become the first husband-and-wife team to be officially licenced as a training partnership in the UK following a change in the rules in May 2020. Prior to that, a British training licence could only be held in one name but, following a Twitter plea to the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) from the couple on International Women's Day in March 2019, the rules were adjusted to follow countries such as Australia and France in allowing licences to be held in multiple names. Father-and-son partnerships Paul and...

Leicester Racecourse's planned fixture on July 7 will go ahead following consultation with relevant authorities after a COVID-19 spike prompted increased lockdown measures in the area earlier this week. The area lockdown has reinstated restrictions to what they were on June 14, at which point racing was permitted under strict guidelines. Owners will not be permitted at Leicester on July 7. The British Horseracing Authority has liaised with Racetech to ensure stalls handlers will be available for the fixture; Tuesday evening's meeting at Leicester was conducted without starting stalls. A...

Face covering regulations for jockeys have been revised, the British Horseracing Authority announced on Saturday. There has been a hot spell in the UK as summer begins. The new protocols are as follows: Prior to a race, jockeys are required to wear a face covering (which covers nose and mouth) from the time they depart the changing area in the weighing room. The wearing of face coverings during the race is recommended. However, jockeys are permitted to pull down the face covering in the moments immediately prior to the start...

Charlie Parker, newly appointed president of the Racehorse Owners' Association, will join the Board of the British Horseracing Authority. Parker's three-year term with ROA begins on June 30, while a three-year term as BHA Director commences on July 1. "Charlie will be a valuable addition to our team of Directors and I look forward to working alongside him, our colleagues nominated by racecourses, and the independent members of our Board," said The BHA Chair, Annamarie Phelps. "I'd like to thank [outgoing ROA president] Nicholas [Cooper] for his contribution to the...

David Sykes will step down from his role as the British Horseracing Authority's Director of Equine Health and Welfare before the end of the year. He will return to his native Australia for family reasons. Since joining the BHA in 2017, Sykes has been involved in the development of the Horse Welfare Board; the handling of the 2019 equine flu outbreak; the publication of a detailed review of safety and welfare at the Cheltenham Festival; the implementation of 30-day foal notifications and changes to the ways in which retired racehorses...

The G2 Dante S. and G3 Musidora S. will be run at York on July 9 this year, the British Horseracing Authority announced on Tuesday. The two races traditionally act as Derby and Oaks trials respectively, but with the Epsom Classics taking place on July 4 that is not the case this season following various changes to the race calendar necessitated by the coronavirus shutdown. The Dante was originally due to be held on May 14, with the Musidora a day earlier. Click for the revised Flat and Jump programmes...

There will be nine more UK fixtures in June and July catering to horses rated in the 50s and high 40s, the British Horseracing Authority announced on Tuesday. Also emphasised during the new fixtures are novice races, with the updated British fixture list available here and an updated race programme through June 30 is available on the Racing Admin site. July's race programme will be published by early next week. The nine new fixtures are as follows: June 10 - Wolverhampton June 11 - Newbury June 15 - Kempton Park...

The date of June 1 has for several weeks been dangling tantalisingly over British racing as the earliest possible day of resumption for a sport which has been under wraps since Mar. 18, five days before country went into full lockdown. With restrictions having been eased in recent weeks, hopes continued to grow that racing could be one of the first professional sports to burst back into action from the coronavirus-enforced hiatus, but it took until 4pm on Saturday, May 30 for the government to grant its consent publicly. There...