Independent Company To Take Over British Jockey Clubs` Responsibilities The British Jockey Club on Tuesday signalled the end of an era as it outlined a framework under which its 250-year-old responsibility for regulating horseracing would be transferred to a new and 'independent' company. Present Jockey Club staff and officials who play their daily part in racing`s safe running will transfer to the as yet unnamed new company. The Jockey Club said it saw the changes as part of a long-established evolutionary process, and believed the creation of a more independent and accountable body would address much of the stinging criticism that came its way in the wake of the Panorama and Kenyon Confronts investigations broadcast by the BBC last year. Then BHB member Rhydian Morgan-Jones led the critic's by accusing the Jockey Club of 'institutional incompetence' and argued that it was no longer appropriate for a group of '200 self-elected rich toffs' to guard the sport's integrity. Tuesday night`s immediate reaction included concern that the historic transfer of powers might not be as absolute as it appeared. In a joint statement from the BBC, the makers of the Panorama and Kenyon programmes warned that the announcement did not amount to 'a clear break with the widely discredited set-up run by the Jockey Club'.
