Nick Patton will be promoted to the position of Managing Director of Jockey Club Estates from 1st January 2017 after more than six successful years at the organisation, it was announced today.
 
Assistant Managing Director of The Jockey Club's land management and property arm since April this year, Patton will also retain the role of Jockey Club Estates’ Training Grounds Manager, responsible for Newmarket, Lambourn and Epsom Downs.
 
The move allows current Managing Director, William Gittus, to devote more time to his wider role as Group Property Director for The Jockey Club and board director of Jockey Club Racecourses. Gittus will continue in his role as Chairman of the Newmarket Horsemen's Group and to advise Jockey Club Estates on property and planning matters as appropriate.
 
Andrew Merriam, Chairman of Jockey Club Estates, said:
 
“Nick’s promotion is richly deserved and under his leadership Jockey Club Estates will continue to focus solely on supporting British Racing in all that we do, including through the provision of first-class facilities for horsemen. William has made a fantastic contribution to our sport at the helm of JCE for more than a decade and I am pleased he will remain involved in both his capacity as Group Property Director for The Jockey Club and Chairman of the Newmarket Horsemen’s Group.”
 
Nick Patton said:
 
“I would like to thank the Board of Jockey Club Estates for entrusting me with the future management of the company and I feel privileged to have been given this opportunity. I am extremely grateful to William for his guidance and support and look forward to building on the excellent work that he has done over the past 11 years.”
 
William Gittus said:
 
“Over the last four years, Nick has established an excellent rapport with the many trainers who use Jockey Club Estates’ facilities. I have every confidence that he will continue to serve them well, in addition to his responsibilities as Managing Director. I will continue to work closely with Nick and the whole of Newmarket’s world-leading racing cluster as Chairman of Newmarket Horsemen’s Group, protecting and promoting the interests of the cluster and town locally, nationally and internationally.”
 
Nick Patton will succeed William Gittus on the Board of Jockey Club Estates. He joined Jockey Club Estates as Training Grounds Manager in 2010 from The Jockey Club's Market Rasen and Nottingham Racecourses, where he was Clerk of the Course.
 
Gittus joined Jockey Club Estates as its Managing Director in 2006 having been a partner at property consultants, Bidwells. He was formerly an officer in the Ghurkas. Gittus took up the role of Group Property Director for The Jockey Club in 2013.
 
Jockey Club Estates invests in and operates more than 3,000 acres of world-class training grounds at Newmarket and Lambourn, oversees the training grounds at Epsom Downs, and manages the historic Jockey Club Rooms in Newmarket and various other properties.