Dido Harding pledges the Jockey Club will 'properly listen' to its customers as she takes over as senior steward

Dido Harding has pledged the Jockey Club will heighten its focus on listening to its customers and participants as she took over as senior steward of British racing's largest commercial body on Friday.

Baroness Harding, a Conservative peer who has been a controversial figure due to her role running the UK government's Covid-19 test-and-trace programme in England, also said she did not believe her roles in public service would be an issue following the change in government this month.

Her involvement in British racing has included more than 25 wins as an amateur jockey and owning Cool Dawn, the winner of the 1998 Cheltenham Gold Cup. She joined the Jockey Club's board of stewards in 2018 and in succeeding Sandy Dudgeon is the first woman to become senior steward since the body was founded in 1750.