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Former Cycling Executive Julie Harrington Named CEO Of British Horseracing Authority

The BHA Board has chosen the Chief Executive of British Cycling, Julie Harrington, to be the new head of British horseracing's governing body and regulator.

She will take over the post at the beginning of 2021 after nearly 4 years leading British Cycling, which has more than 160,000 grassroots members and is responsible for the elite team preparing for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

Julie Harrington is a former member of the BHA Board and was a senior executive with Northern Racing for 8 years, including a spell as Managing Director of Uttoxeter. She is one of the most experienced leaders in sport, with a strong background in consumer, operational and regulatory roles, and a clear understanding of the financial challenges facing participants.

As the Operations Director for the FA, she was responsible for Wembley Stadium and St George's Park, the FA training facility. Her early career was with Whitbread Inns as Regional Marketing Director and then with British Airways as Retail Sector Director. She has been responsible for managing British Cycling's relationship with HSBC UK, its leading sponsor and partner.

As Chief Executive of British Cycling, she has dealt with some significant regulatory challenges. The role has also involved engagement with UK Sport and Sport England over elite funding and growing participation, achieving its target for more than two million cyclists by 2020. It works closely with the Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport and the devolved governments in Scotland and Wales through their national cycling bodies.

BHA Chair, Annamarie Phelps, commented:

“I am delighted that Julie is coming back to the BHA and to racing and the Board and I are looking forward to working closely with her. This is a vital leadership role for the organisation and British racing. Julie's hands-on knowledge of horseracing, coupled with her governance and business experience, make her the ideal person to carry on with the task of restoring sustainable prosperity after the COVID crisis. We've got the right person, for the right job, at the right time.”

Julie Harrington said:

“I'm so excited to be coming home to racing and playing my part helping this great sport to achieve a prosperity from which everyone benefits. I know how important collaboration across racing has been over the past few months and I look forward to working with colleagues from all parts of the sport.

“The BHA and its team of dedicated officials do a great job in keeping racing safe, clean and fair. I am proud to take on this leadership role in such a well-regulated sport, which enriches the lives of horses and people, and has a special place at the centre of national life and our rural communities.”

Julie Harrington will join the BHA on January 4th after completing her notice period at British Cycling. Nick Rust continues to lead the BHA as it works with industry bodies on resumption and recovery. A revised industry plan is due to be published shortly.

Annamarie Phelps added:

“Nick and his team are working closely with the RCA and The Horsemen's Group to get racing through the next phase of COVID-19, to bring back the public, and support our owners and investors in the sport. There'll be no let-up over the coming months and the sport will see a seamless transition to our new CEO. I want to thank all those at the BHA and the industry bodies who are working so hard and I'm confident that racing will continue to lead the way towards a full resumption of sport.”

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Apprentice LaBarre Closes Out Colonial Downs’ Pick 4 With An Upset

Rebecca Grace LaBarre may be an apprentice jockey and may be competing at Colonial Downs for the first time ever, but she has made her presence felt in a big way so far at the track's summer meet, especially to Pick-4 players.

The New Kent track opened its racing season on July 28 and in each of the two Monday cards Colonial has conducted since, the 26-year-old has put an exclamation point on the final leg of the early Pick-4 with upset wins. Those wager-ending triumphs have sent Pick-4 payouts into five-digit territory both times.

Monday evening (August 10), her victory atop Bay Bridge in the fifth paid $21.00 but more importantly, triggered a .50 Pick-4 bonanza of $32,957 for the 9-2-1-5 combination. Solitary Jack ($47.60) won the first leg and was followed by Dude's Secret ($39.00) and Chaps ($4.20).

A week prior on August 3, her score aboard Thump returned $36.60 to win and resulted in a .50 Pick-4 payoff of $19,310.50 for the 4-6-2-2 combo. Raison d'Etat Girl kicked the first leg off with a $64.00 win followed by modest middle leg returns — The Great Samurai ($6.40) and Feeling Mischief ($4.40).

LaBarre began her riding career in January, 2019 at Laurel. She had competed primarily there and at Penn National before relocating to Colonial Downs two weeks ago. In the six cards Colonial has held, LaBarre has five wins. Her others have come aboard first or second favorites — Snaggletooth ($7.40), Hypnotist ($6.40) and Tolaga Bay ($3.60).

Colonial Downs, home of the Secretariat Turf Course, continues its summer season with cards every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 5:30 PM through September 2. The Grade 3 New Kent County Virginia Derby is slated for Tuesday September 1.

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Japan Relaxes Strict Criteria For Short-Term Jockey Licenses In Hopes Of Drawing Female Riders

French riding sensation Mickaelle Michel's chances of riding regularly on Japan's premier circuit have received a major boost after the strict qualifying criteria for short-term licenses were relaxed.

At the end of the summer, Michel plans to return to the Far East to sit the first part of the JRA license course for a permanent license.

She was a massive hit in Japan earlier this year when she set a new record of wins by a visiting jockey on a short-term license on the second-tier National Association of Racing.

Japan now wants to encourage more elite women jockeys like her to participate in its racing and this week announced a different set of eligibility rules to those for men, who must either be champions of their country or winners of G1 races like the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, for a short-term license.

“It's fantastic news,” said Michel's partner and agent Frederic Spanu. “It means Mickaelle can make an application for the JRA short-term license. She is so happy and excited.

“But she will also take the test for a permanent JRA license on September 29 – if obviously we can get on the plane.”

To qualify, jockeys from the UK and France must be the leading female in their country in either of the last two seasons, have ridden more than ten winners and ranked in the top 50 for prize-money, or ridden a G1 winner. There are similar criteria for riders from the USA, Canada, Ireland, Australia, Germany, Hong Kong and New Zealand. Only five short-term licenses will be granted at any one time.

In Japan, Nanako Fujita is the only female jockey riding the JRA circuit but more females are entering the jockey school and the governing body wants more role models for them.

A spokesman for the JRA said: “The purpose of this rule introduction is to create a better open environment for more female jockeys to take part in our races.

“We currently have a number of female students at our racing school. By introducing a separate criteria for overseas female jockeys to ride in Japan, we hope that the best female jockeys will be able to get a short-term licence and hopefully be great role models for the females in Japan and influence them to become a jockey as well as having a positive impact in the Japanese horse racing industry.”

Michel was sponsored by the powerful Shadai Farm on her last trip to Japan where visiting jockeys must also find an owner and trainer to support them.

She will also need coronavirus restrictions to be lifted as Japan is currently not allowing foreigners into the country due to COVID-19.

This article was reprinted with permission from Horse Racing Planet. You can find more of their content here.

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Ben Perkins Jr., New Farm Team For Four-Win Day At Monmouth

Ben Perkins, Jr. has been training long enough to know that his business is filled with ups and downs. But the veteran conditioner, who has won more than 1,500 career races, hasn't had many down years like he did in 2019.

Of course, he hasn't had many up moments quite like the one he is experiencing now.

Perkins saddled four winners on Sunday's card at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., after having two on Saturday, and has now won with seven of his past nine starters.

A year ago, the longtime Monmouth-based Perkins was just 2-of-18 at the meet. He's 9-for-19 this year.

“They're in the right spots,” said Perkins. “It kind of all came together at once. Every winner before Amatteroftime won (Sunday's second race) was a maiden, too. We have a bunch of maidens. After not winning races last year this is what we were doing – we were getting them ready.”

In addition to Amatteroftime ($11.40), Perkins clicked with Heir Port ($3.80) in the fourth race and Miss Wild ($3.80) in the sixth. He added an upset on the turf when Joe Bravo roused Reconvene ($20.80) with a prolonged stretch run in the seventh.

This is how hot Perkins is: The only race he lost Sunday was to himself, with Evil Monkey finishing third in the race won by Amatteroftime.

“Last year we had some nice young horses and bought some nice ones but it took some time to get them ready,” he said. “This year, not being able to run anywhere else (because of COVID-19), when we came here I knew we would win a fair amount of races. A lot of them were ready to run in April.”

Perkins won with two of his three starters on Saturday's card – both maidens, including 24-1 shot Jesters Honor – and scored with his only starter last Sunday. That adds up to seven winners the past nine starts.

“They're all bunched up now that we can run them,” he said. “This business is ups and downs. Last year was certainly a down.”

The past week has been a remarkable up – even for someone with more than 8,000 career starters.

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