Appointment of the new BHA chair follows a comprehensive recruitment process overseen by an interim Nominations Committee

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has appointed Simon Cox as independent non-executive chair.

Cox will assume his position on 1 October, taking over from interim chair and senior independent director David Jones, who had succeeded Joe Saumarez Smith.

Cox is a passionate owner-breeder and accomplished business leader with a deep understanding of the British racing and breeding industry, combined with extensive board-level experience and large-scale commercial expertise.

Cox has been a member of the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association (TBA) board of trustees since November 2021 and chairs the BHA’s Jump Pattern Committee, which makes recommendations to the BHA Board on how to continually strengthen the Jump Pattern and Listed programme.

He is a former Professional Jockeys Association (PJA) board member, a member of the industry’s High Quality Horse group, and an owner of racehorses for more than 15 years with four horses currently in training.

A master brewer by profession, Cox also spent over three decades in the international beer and beverage industry in senior leadership roles, overseeing global supply chain management, business transformation, turnaround and growth.

Throughout his career he has established strong political relationships, most recently through his board roles with the Portman Group, the British Beer & Pub Association and The Brewers of Europe. He has been involved in successful government engagement and lobbying, including the brewing industry campaign to abolish the beer duty escalator in 2013.

Prior to commencing his role with the BHA in October, Cox will meet and engage with people from across racing, breeding and betting to listen to their views and plan for the sport’s growth and future prosperity.

Cox said: “It is an honour to be appointed chair of the British Horseracing Authority at such an important moment for racing and breeding. I enjoyed a long and fulfilling career in the brewing and beverage sector, but horseracing has always been my passion. I have been extremely fortunate to be involved in this wonderful sport for many years, during which I have learned a great deal – and contributed a fair amount too, I hope.

“British racing and breeding is a worldwide success story. We are an industry that is globally renowned for our equine welfare standards, the fairness and integrity of our competition and the quality of our participants, our horses and our racing.”

Cox continued: “It’s no secret that we face significant challenges and my focus will be on ensuring racing works together to address these, with a particular emphasis on growing participation in the sport, our customer base and critically our income streams.

“There is really good work already underway in so many areas, but there is also much to do to set our industry up to thrive for generations to come.”

Nominations Committee chair and BHA board member Kyrsten Halley commented: “On behalf of the Nominations Committee we are delighted to have recommended Simon to the BHA Board. He was a first-class candidate throughout a highly competitive recruitment process, with some exceptionally skilled and high calibre individuals.

“We were particularly impressed with Simon’s in-depth knowledge and understanding of British racing and breeding, accumulated over many years as an owner-breeder and investor in our sport, alongside his experience and expertise from a truly impressive commercial career. 

“He is acutely aware of the nature of the challenges our industry faces and articulated a clear and compelling plan for how we seek to address them. His strong vision for how we make progress in key areas like the sport’s governance, growth strategy, equine and human welfare and government relations left us in no doubt that he has the credentials to provide exceptional leadership at a critical time for our industry.”

Jones added: “Simon is already a very well-established and deeply respected figure within our industry, known among participants and racecourses as an advocate for British racing and bloodstock and for his considered and collaborative leadership approach.

“He is also someone who possesses a steely determination and decisiveness and is, at heart, unwaveringly passionate about seeing British racing succeed. Simon has been a valuable asset to our industry for many years as a fan, owner, breeder, investor and active participant, and has the necessary skillset and demeanour to be an accomplished and successful BHA chair.”

Ahead of joining the BHA board, Cox will resign from his TBA trustee role, and his positions as chair of the BHA Jump Pattern Committee and member of the High Quality Horse group.