This Sunday, 3 June, will see Dominic Gardiner-Hill take over as British Horseracing Authority (BHA) Head of Handicapping from Phil Smith, who is retiring after 23 years at the BHA.

Since joining the British Horseracing Board (BHB) in August 1995 as a Flat Handicapper Phil has been responsible for a number of significant advancements in handicapping practice including the introduction of the Anglo-Irish Jumps Classification in season 1999-2000 driving changes in the weight-for-age scale and handicapping practice in the Grand National.

Dominic has been Deputy Head of Handicapping for the BHA for 10 years and is approaching 25 years of service with the regulator, having joined the then-BHB in July 1993. Prior to that Dominic was a Jumps Handicapper for the Racing Post for six years.

As well as the day-to-day running of the department Dominic will be tasked with the implementations of an internal handicapping review carried out last year by journalist and broadcaster Lydia Hislop, further updates on which will be given in due course.

Richard Wayman, Chief Operating Officer at the BHA, said:

“It’s something of a changing of the guard with Phil retiring after such a long period at the helm during which time he has been an outstanding leader of the handicapping team, as well as a fine ambassador for the BHA and British Racing.

“Equally, Dominic has been Deputy Head of Handicapping for a number of years so we are all anticipating the transition to be a smooth one.

“Both Phil and Dominic are at Epsom this weekend to celebrate the handover, before Dom officially takes over on Sunday.”