Derby stays on at York

WILLIAM DERBY has played down suggestions of a potential 'draw bias' at York after confirming that he will remain clerk of the course at the top racecourse.

It had been claimed that Derby would be replaced by Anthea Morshead, the daughter of Yorkshire's former Gold Cup-winning trainer Peter Beaumont.

However, Derby has stressed that he will remain as both clerk and chief executive at York, one of the city's top businesses in its own right, with Morshead taking over the assistant clerk's role that has been filled by James Hutchinson for the past 20 years.

"James has been a fine servant to York for 20 years and has always offered me great support," said Derby

"I respect his decision to step down at York so that he can manage increased responsibilities elsewhere."

The appointment of an experienced assistant – Morshead runs Cartmel, Musselburgh and Kelso – affirms the York policy of combining the role of clerk of the course and chief executive.

"We believe it is right to have the same person with ultimate responsibility for both the racing and commercial operations at York and that man is William," said York chairman Nicholas Wrigley.

"We support him on racedays with a skilled assistant. William has just led the team through another successful Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival with its record investment in prize money, record attendances and awards from both the Racegoers Club, Racehorse Owners Association and last year's Neil Wyatt Award for the racing surface.

"I know he is looking forward to working with Anthea."