ROA president defends leadership after coming under fire at organisation's annual meeting

Charlie Parker insisted he was comfortable with his position as Racehorse Owners Association (ROA) president after coming under fire from former board member Sam Hoskins at the organisation's annual meeting at Kempton Park on Wednesday.

Hoskins has been a critic of the ROA's leadership since he resigned in April 2022 when he claimed it was being run "like a dictatorship".

In his address to the annual meeting, the first to take place in-person since Covid, Parker said the ROA had recorded a deficit over the last two financial years totalling more than £460,000 and that membership numbers had declined due to the impact of the Covid pandemic and inflationary pressures, although he added that both metrics had improved in recent months.

However, during questions from the floor, Hoskins said it was not surprising membership numbers had fallen "with an ownership base that has lost faith in its representative body to do what's best for British racing".

He claimed that when he had been a board member there were "significant conflicts of interest" at the ROA which were "ignored".

"This is not a chairman that takes his role seriously as ROA chairman and I would strongly suggest he should be standing down," Hoskins added.

"Media rights are rumoured to be in the region of £30,000 a race and we are having races run for six grand at the moment. Where is the push for transparency, where is that voice for owners, where is that voice for shared ownership?

Sam Hoskins has been a critic of the ROA's leadershipCredit: Tattersalls

"Are you on the side of the racecourses or are you on the side of horsemen?"

In response Parker, whose nomination to the ROA board was approved at the meeting, said he was not conflicted at all.

He added: "I am on the side of the owners. I have been in the ROA for a number of years and prior to that my family has participated in it.

"I have been fighting very hard for the owners' position and the [sport's] governance review that we managed to get over the line was a direct result of the ROA and me pushing for that strategic change.

"So I am very comfortable with my position. I am very pleased that the board asked me to stay on for another couple of years as president and will continue to work very hard."

Two new members were elected to the ROA board in the shape of Jim Walker and Stephen Applebee, while Gay Kelleway was re-elected for a second term.

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