BHA announces delay to Lord Allen’s tenureship

Lord Charles Allen will not begin a new era as chairman of the British Horseracing Authority early next month as originally planned.

A statement from the ruling body confirmed that Lord Allen will delay taking over at the helm as he wished to continue to meet all stakeholders to “better inform his vision”.

The statement read: “Since Lord Allen was named as the new chair of the BHA last November he has engaged in an extensive round of meetings with stakeholders to develop a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the issues facing the sport.

“The BHA can today confirm that Lord Allen will not now start on June 2 as he wishes to continue meeting stakeholders to better inform his vision for the sport and he looks forward to starting his new role once these have concluded.”

Lord Allen, a former chief executive at ITV who was also on the organising committee of the London 2012 Olympics, was announced as the successor to the late Joe Saumarez Smith in November.