A savvy operator in a tough environment or a tepid leader who oversaw decline? As the BHA chief executive hands over the reins, we assess her legacy

When Julie Harrington announced she was stepping down as BHA chief executive at the end of the year she said it felt like the right time to move on and let someone else steer the sport through its next "exciting phase" following four years running British racing's governing body.

"It's been a huge privilege to lead the BHA during what has been a period of real change as the sport has developed and implemented shared strategies for a sustainable future, and an ability to speak with one united voice," she said in a statement in June that raised a few eyebrows with those who would argue that the sport has gone backwards in many key respects during her tenure, most notably enduring a calamitous fall in betting turnover amid ineffective efforts to arrest the decline.

Few if any would argue racing is in a better place than it was four years ago, but how much of that can be laid at the door of the BHA chief executive? Have governance changes and a new industry strategy laid the foundations for the sustainable future Harrington talks about or does she join a long list of BHA CEOs who have struggled to bring about radical change in a sport too often hamstrung by self-interest?