A Royal Charter British racing organisation, founded in 1750, that runs 15 racecourses including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs and Newmarket, plus training estates and a stud.
The Jockey Club is a British horseracing organisation. It describes itself as running four businesses: Jockey Club Racecourses, Jockey Club Estates, The National Stud and Racing Welfare. Its racecourse group is described on its own site as the largest in Britain, with 15 courses. Among them are Aintree, home of the Grand National; Cheltenham, home of the Cheltenham Festival; Epsom Downs, home of the Derby and the Oaks; and the two Newmarket courses, where the 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas are run. Jockey Club Estates looks after land used for training horses, around Newmarket, Lambourn and Epsom, and the site says it manages 5,000 acres.
The Jockey Club dates from 1750, when it first met at a tavern in Pall Mall, London, and later moved to Newmarket. It began as the sport's governing body and now runs businesses instead. It is governed by Royal Charter, which says it must act for the long-term benefit of British racing. It has no shareholders and pays no dividends, so profits are put back into the sport.Its vision is "a thriving British horseracing industry for all", pursued by empowering people, investing in racing, engaging fans and attracting new audiences, and building a sustainable future.
The Jockey Club is entirely British. Its head office has been listed at High Holborn in London, and its courses stretch across the country: Aintree and Haydock Park in Merseyside, Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, Epsom Downs, Kempton Park and Sandown Park in Surrey, the two Newmarket courses in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, Carlisle, Exeter, Huntingdon, Market Rasen, Nottingham, Warwick and Wincanton. It also owns The National Stud in Newmarket and supports Racing Welfare, a charity that helps people who work in racing.
On culture, the company presents itself as "getting hearts racing" and invites people to "be part of something extraordinary" (its own words). Its careers site talks about developing people and supporting their wellbeing, with benefits it lists as a health cash plan, a Team Pass for race days, and a Workforce Wellbeing Programme. A 2021 company announcement quotes its then Chief People Officer, Helene Sharrock, praising its "deep heritage" and "passion of the people", and the chief executive at that time was Nevin Truesdale. Wikipedia gives about 600 full-time equivalent employees, but that figure is dated.
A racing business needs many kinds of people. The sources suggest racecourse operations and event teams, ground and estates staff who look after land and tracks, hospitality, marketing and fan engagement, and people, finance and property roles at head office and at the courses. The site's location filters show opportunities at Carlisle, Cheltenham, Exeter, Huntingdon, Newmarket, Nottingham, Warwick and Wincanton as well as London-area offices. If you like horses, big events or the outdoors, it is a very different kind of sports employer from a football club.
Website: www.thejockeyclub.co.uk
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