Pioneering racecourse manager Jack Bennett dies at age of 84

Jack Bennett, the former manager at Cheltenham and Worcester racecourses who was hailed as a racing entrepreneur ahead of his time, has died at the age of 84.

Among many developments during his three years in charge at Cheltenham in the 1980s Bennett introduced new drainage, started the tented village, persuaded the board to update the stable staff accommodation and realigned car parking.

He turned Worcester into a profit-making course in his first year and introduced portable fences and improved drainage, and he also made the original proposal to establish a new racecourse in South Wales.

Bennett's brother Roger recalled: "Jack was always very interested in racing, he was a very good rider as a child and rode a lot of ponies. We lived just across the river from Fred Rimell's stable near Upton-on-Severn and he used to ride out there with Barry Hills, who lived nearby.

"He'd probably have made a good jockey if he'd been smaller but he was always enthusiastic about the sport. His first involvement was with the Racegoers' Club, after that he worked at Cheltenham and Worcester.

"He was very much ahead of the game, trying to persuade the powers that be to adopt a copyright payments system, which they eventually did. He felt that was the only way to avoid negotiating unsuccessfully with bookmakers on the levy.

"He was very entrepreneurial in the way he thought about racing, trying to develop new ideas, and he encountered quite a lot of resistance at that time."

Bennett is survived by his wife Mary, two sons and three grandchildren. A family funeral will be held in Hanley Castle in Worcestershire on January 4 – anyone wishing to attend should contact Roger Bennett on 07785 725181.