Jockey Club

The Jockey Club has long been thought to have been founded in 1750 – a year recognised by the club itself in its own records. Some claim it was created earlier, in the 1720s, while others suggest it may have existed in the first decade of the century. A notice of 1729 records that "The Jockey Club, consisting of several Noblemen and Gentlemen, are to meet one Day next Week at Hackwood, the Duke of Bolton's Seat in Hampshire, to consider of the Methods for the better keeping of their respective Strings of Horses at New Market."

It was founded as one of the most exclusive high society social clubs in the United Kingdom, sharing some of the functions of a gentleman's club such as high-level socialising. It was called 'The Jockey Club' in reference to the late medieval word for 'horsemen', pronounced 'yachey', and spelt 'Eachaidhe' in Gaelic. The club's first meetings were held at the "Star and Garter" tavern in Pall Mall, London, before later moving to Newmarket; a town known in the United Kingdom as "The Home of Racing". It was historically the dominant organisation in British horseracing, and it remained responsible for its day-to-day regulation until April 2006.

It passed its first resolution in 1758, that all riders must weigh in after a race.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, The Jockey Club had a clubhouse in Pall Mall, where many other gentlemen's clubs were based. The fact that it acquired a governing role in the sport reflected the dominant role of the aristocracy in British horse racing up to the 20th century, and the removal of this role was in part a conscious effect to move the sport away from its patrician image. This can be compared with the way that cricket's Marylebone Cricket Club became the governing body of cricket by default, but later surrendered most of its powers to more representative bodies.

The Jockey Club refused to grant training licences to women trainers until Florence Nagle, supported by the Fawcett Society, sought legal redress. Initially she was unsuccessful until her fight finally reached the Court of Appeal in 1966. The Jockey Club used its considerable influence within the Establishment to twice block her appeal but her third appeal was successful, with the verdict of the three presiding law lords, Lord Denning, Lord Justice Dankwerts and Lord Salmon, being that "If she is to carry on her trade without stooping to subterfuge she has to have a training licence." Of the Jockey Club itself, the Law Lords pronounced that "The rights of a person to work should not be prevented by the dictatorial powers of a body which holds a monopoly." Faced with the court's ruling, the Jockey Club was forced to capitulate, and on 3 August 1966, Nagle and Norah Wilmot became the first women in Britain to receive licences to train racehorses. On the same day, one of Wilmot's horses won at Brighton Racecourse, making her the first official woman trainer of a winning horse.

Jockey Club rules began permitting women jockeys in 1972.

In August 2026, the Jockey Club announced that it would leave the Racecourse Association by the end of the year, following a similar decision by Ascot Racecourse. The move reflected disagreements over the association's governance and proposed reforms to the fixture list.