Newmarket racecourses’ boss Amy Starkey has announced she is standing down to take on a new community role

Amy Starkey, currently boss of Newmarket’s racecourses, is standing down next month to take on a new role.

She will be focusing on The Jockey Club group’s long-term role in shaping the future of Newmarket and will be working with key stakeholders across the town and horseracing industry to help the town thrive as one of horseracing’s most important assets globally.

The move will allow Amy, who has lived in the town for more than a decade, and is a member of the town council, to spend more time with her young son James, who is set to start school in September, whilst focusing on The Jockey Club’s ongoing commitment to Newmarket. And it concludes 20 years of leading racecourses on behalf of The Jockey Club, latterly having overseen the entire portfolio of courses except Cheltenham as managing director, Jockey Club Racecourses.

“I’ve had the most amazing time working across The Jockey Club’s dedicated and passionate racecourse teams since I first joined Huntingdon in 2005 and would like to thank everyone that has made the last 20 years such an honour and privilege filled with so many fantastic memories and experiences,” she said.

“Newmarket has been my home for 13 years and I’m hugely excited to focus on working right across our world- leading racing and breeding industries as well as the community elements of the town to benefit everyone who works, lives and visits the global home of horseracing.”

Charlie Boss, interim chief executive of The Jockey Club, said: “It is no exaggeration to say that Amy has been instrumental to the success of our racecourses and The Jockey Club as a whole. Her enthusiasm and dedication to our industry is extraordinary, and I delighted that Newmarket will benefit directly from that passion as we work together to protect and enhance the town’s reputation as one of the great centres of global horseracing.”