new role

Marc Van Gestel, currently Racing New South Wales's General Manager of Integrity and Chairman of Stewards, will become the next Hong Kong Jockey Club Chief Stipendiary Steward (CSS) in January 2023, the HKJC announced on Friday. He replaces current HKJC CSS Kim Kelly, who is retiring after joining the HKJC in 2002 and became the CSS in 2009. Van Gestel began his career as a stipendiary steward in 1992, and became Racing NSW's Deputy Chairman of Stewards in 2006. He was appointed Racing NSW's Chairman of Stewards in 2016. Van...

Rossa Ryan will no longer be number one jockey for Kia Joorabchian's Amo Racing, the jockey revealed on Friday. In the Amo silks, Ryan earned a Group 2 win aboard Amo runner Go Bears Go (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire}) and was second aboard Persian Force (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) in the G2 July S. He was not named on the latter for Sunday's G1 Prix Morny, who will instead be ridden by James Doyle. "Sadly, me and Amo have departed our own ways," Ryan told ITV Racing. "Kia and all the...

British Racing School Chief Executive Grant Harris will move on to a new role as the Chief Executive of the Alborada Trust on Jan. 1, 2023. A search for his successor will begin immediately. The Alborada Trust is Kirsten Rausing's private philanthropic charitable trust. Harris replaced Rory MacDonald when he retired in 2014. Prior to working with the BRS, Harris was a journalist for the NTF, BHB and Weatherbys. Harris said, "It's been my great privilege to run the British Racing School. I took over a thriving organisation and I...

Helen Willis has been named the new General Manager of Carlisle Racecourse by The Jockey Club. Due to start in mid-July, Willis will succeed Molly Dingwall, who will become the new General Manager of Haydock Park Racecourse. An alumnus of Bishop Burton College with a first-class degree in Equine Business Management, Willis joined The Jockey Club as a customer relations executive in March of 2021. She was promoted in February of this year to trainee general manager and has worked across many of The Jockey Club's events like the Cheltenham...

Brian Finch will succeed Julia Budd as Chair of Epsom Downs Racecourse beginning on June 5, The Jockey Club announced on Tuesday. Budd's term will end after G1 Cazoo Derby weekend. Exposed to racing through visits to Borrowdale Racecourse in Zimbabwe as a child, Finch has owned racehorses for over 25 years in various countries. Finch joined the Epsom Racecourse Committee in 2021. Currently retired, he is also a member of the Racecourse Committee at Sandown Park Racecourse and a Trustee of the National Horseracing Museum. Finch said, "I am...

Katherine Sheridan has joined Tattersalls in the role of online sales executive. Sheridan, who has a degree in law and European studies from the University of Limerick and subsequently qualified as an attorney after passing the New York Bar exam, is from County Clare. After moving to Australia in 2012, she began working for Magic Millions as a credit controller and later became Newhaven Park Stud's Manager of Operations, Client Relations and Marketing. Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony said, "We are delighted to welcome Katherine to Tattersalls in the newly created...

Darragh O'Loughlin has been appointed the new Chief Executive Officer of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB). O'Loughlin will begin serving in his new role on June 29. Previously, O'Loughlin was the Secretary General of the Irish Pharmacy Union from 2013 until April of this year. He also served as a Council Member of the PSI (The Pharmacy Regulator) for six years and was a board member of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA). Martin O'Donnell, Chairman of the IHRB, said, "Darragh brings an exceptional combination of regulatory expertise...

Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges was unanimously elected President of the International Horse Sports Confederation (IHSC) at the online IHSC General Assembly on Apr. 22. The third president of the organisation that was founded in 2013, he succeeds FEI President Ingmar De Vos. Engelbrecht-Bresges, who will serve a two-year term, said, "I am very grateful to be elected President of the IHSC and must pay tribute to Ingmar, whose leadership at the helm of the Confederation has been significantly important and impactful for global horse sport. "I would also like to pay tribute...

British Horseracing Authority Chair, Annamarie Phelps, CBE, will not seek a second term in the role and will step down from the BHA Board at the conclusion of her term in May. Phelps will be replaced by BHA Independent Non-Executive Director, Joe Saumarez Smith. He will begin his new role once Phelp's term is up and will stay in that position until the end of his own term in September of 2023. Annamarie Phelps said, "Following discussions with the Board of the BHA I have decided not to extend my...

Hana Jurankova has been appointed Arqana's new Eastern European Representative, succeeding Chris Richner, who passed away last year. A native of the Czech Republic, Jurankova's father is a trainer and she currently holds roles as a self-employed racing manager and secretary in Austria. Jurankova is also an accomplished amateur jockey in Europe, and was crowned the World Champion Lady Rider in the 2021 Fegentri Championship.

Trainer Ralph Beckett has been elected the President of the National Trainers Federation (NTF) for 2022 and 2023 at the NTF General Meeting on Feb. 24. He replaces Emma Lavelle, who served two terms from 2020 to 2022. In addition, Hugo Palmer was appointed the third member of the NTF Presidential Triumvirate alongside Nick Alexander. The British Horseracing Authority's Chief Regulator Officer Brant Dunshea and Director of Integrity and Regulation Tim Naylor addressed the assembly after the meeting proper. They discussed the BHA's strategy for regulation and also took part...

The International Horse Sports Confederation (IHSC) General Assembly has unanimously elected Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges as the new IHSC Vice-President. Engelbrecht-Bresges had previously served as the standing representative of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) in the IHSC General Assembly. Also the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC)'s Chief Executive Officer since 2007, Engelbrecht-Bresges is the Chair of the IFHA and the Chairman of the Asian Racing Federation (ARF). "Winfried's expertise in the horse racing industry has been of great value to the work of the IHSC, as is his commitment to...