Nigel Gray, the British Horseracing Board’s Head of Handicapping, is to take up a position as Head of Handicapping and Race Planning at the Hong Kong Jockey Club early in 2007.

Gray, 47, has led BHB’s team of handicappers since 1997, and is Co-Chairman of both the IFHA World Rankings Supervisory Committee and the IFHA World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings Conference. He has been with BHB since its inception in 1993 and joined the Jockey Club as a Handicapper in 1987.

No immediate plans have been made regarding the handicapping team’s future structure. Dominic Gardiner-Hill and Phil Smith are BHB’s Senior Flat and Senior Jump Handicapper respectively.

Nigel Gray said: “I’ve been very fortunate to have spent 20 years as a handicapper, the last 10 as leader of a great team, doing a job I’ve really enjoyed. But I feel I’ve now reached the point where I need a fresh challenge, and my new role in Hong Kong will provide just that.

“I hope I will still be involved internationally, for example with the World’s Leading Horses and the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings which I find fascinating, and I’m really looking forward to my new adventure, but I will miss very much all the friends I have made in British Racing.”

BHB Racing Director Ruth Quinn said: “Nigel is an internationally respected and renowned handicapper, and has made an invaluable contribution to British Racing. Domestically, he and his team have made giant strides in enhancing the competitive nature of our races, and he has also been instrumental in raising the profile of the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings, and a tremendous voice for Britain on the world stage.

“We will be very sorry to see him leave – our loss is most certainly Hong Kong’s gain – and wish him well for the future.”