Jockey Club to Leave RCA After its Demands were not Met in Review

The Jockey Club will go through with its threat to quit the Racecourse Association (RCA) at the end of 2026, after a number of its calls for governance changes did not come to fruition, marking a potential major change to horseracing following Ascot Racecourse’s decision to quit the RCA in May.

The Jockey Club owns 15 racecourses in the UK, including Aintree, Cheltenham and Epsom. In May, the Jockey Club threatened to quit the RCA if it did not make changes, including a move to a "balanced and credible" board and voting representation.

The Jockey Club also wanted to ensure "significant views from key racecourses can influence outcomes and minority views can be recognised inside and outside of the RCA".

RCA changes

On Saturday, the RCA announced the results of its governance review, which has led to two key recommendations. First, the RCA plans to move from a ‘one member, one vote’ structure to an equitable voting system, with each of the four constituent member groupings taking a 25% share; those constituent members being the Jockey Club, the Arena Racing Company, the Large Independent Group, and smaller, independent tracks.

Second, the RCA will no longer be responsible for appointing two positions on the board of the British Horseracing Association (BHA). These positions will instead be apportioned to practitioner representatives who are independent of the RCA board. However, these changes have not been enough to appease the Jockey Club.

Concerns not addressed

Jim Mullen, the Jockey Club’s Group Chief Executive, said:

“While acknowledging the work that has taken place since March, we have consistently set out throughout the review that it needed to address not just the racecourse voting shares within the RCA, but the organisation’s role in representing racecourses politically through its 50% holding of member shares in the BHA.

“This review has addressed the RCA's internal arrangements, but not the constitutional arrangements through which racecourses collectively exercise their influence over the governance of British racing. The RCA’s proposals fail to address our fundamental concern that the RCA can continue to act to stifle the necessary changes needed in the industry.”

Growing tensions

In March, the Jockey Club was one of a number of signatories in a letter to RCA Chair Wilf Walsh, requesting a review of the RCA’s governance and for reforms to be made by the end of April.

The signatories included racecourses Ascot, York, Goodwood and Newbury. The RCA’s 12-week review of its governance was initiated following the publishing of that letter.

The Jockey Club follows in the footsteps of Ascot Racecourse, which announced its intention to quit the RCA at the end of the year shortly prior to the Jockey Club’s threat to leave in May. Ascot, which was among the signatories in the letter to Walsh, had also previously threatened to quit the RCA if demands were not met.

When publishing the results of its governance review, the RCA said:

“Some members of the RCA want to see further structural changes to how racecourses are represented within the BHA.

"This may not be possible within the current RCA structure. To this end, those members wish to explore the option to represent themselves directly within the construct of the BHA.

“In order to progress this, further immediate discussions are therefore needed with the new BHA Chair and team, alongside wider stakeholders, to determine an appropriate framework for these representations.”