PJA chairman Nigel Payne pays tribute to Rust's commitment and compassion

Nigel Payne, chairman of the Professional Jockeys Association, spoke touchingly of his conviction the sport will be worst off for the departure of BHA chief executive Nick Rust.

"I'm really saddened to hear the news that Nick will stand down at the end of this year," he said. "I say this professionally and personally, and I know racing will be a lot worse off when he finally departs.

"Knowing Nick as I do, he will work as hard and as passionately as he has always done to achieve as much for racing as he possibly can before leaving.

"The shortly-to-be-released Horse Welfare Board report is something he wants racing to embrace and Nick feels all parts of the industry need to work closely to progress this."

Payne, a former press officer at Aintree and part-owner of Grand National winner Earth Summit, added: "I know that in recent months Nick has been hurt by some of the totally unjust criticism of the BHA and him personally.

"Of course the organisation has made mistakes, every organisation does, but he has led from the front, ducked nothing and stood his ground in support of his team.

Nick Rust: will stand down as BHA chief executiveCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

"Some of the comments I have read and that have been attributed to senior industry figures, criticising Nick, have in my view been absolutely scandalous. I hope these holier than thou types – and they will know who they are – now feel satisfied.

"As many know, Nick commuted to Yorkshire during his time with the BHA and this was to care for his lovely wife, who passed away late in 2018. Such compassion was so typical of the man and not many would have been be able to sustain this. Nick did.

"I've known Nick for many years. I respect him enormously and he will be very hard to replace. Annamarie [Phelps] is proving an excellent [BHA] chairman and I wish her well in her search for someone half as good as Nick."

Philip Freedman, chairman of the Horsemen's Group, also pointed to Rust's leadership and understanding of the bookmaking business in his former jobs, having helped racing's finances with the addition of online betting revenue to the levy.

Freedman said: "Ironically, given the BHA is not a commercial body, I think the greatest contribution it has made in the last four years has been its involvement in levy reform.

"Where the levy would be if we hadn't seen the inclusion of online betting I dread to think. Nick and his involvement in ABPs [authorised betting partners] played a pivotal role in that."

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