Passionate Ben Warn keen to put the spotlight on Yorkshire horse racing with Go Racing in Yorkshire

GRIY is the marketing organisation for the county’s nine racetracks - Beverley, Pontefract, York, Thirsk, Ripon, Redcar and the dual purpose courses at Doncaster, Catterick and Wetherby.

Warn took the helm last year having grown up in York and always having a keen interest in the sport and the city’s prestigious track.

He eventually headed to London for a career which included working as the commercial director of Sporting Life dotcom – when that famous racing name ceased to be a newspaper and switched online.

He then moved on to the betting side of things with Blue Square and Sky Bet where he ran their sportsbook as that began to take off online and then on to Perform in Leeds.

He said: “I’ve always kept an active personal interest in horse racing as a racegoer, sponsored stuff, been part of syndicates and so on. There are not many courses I haven’t been to - I have a real passion for it."

He was delighted to be asked to get involved with GRIY and is looking to raise its profile and expand its outlook during his tenure.

He said: “I act as an ambassador for the organisation, but also there are so many good things that happen in Yorkshire racing and some of them can’t happen on a one-off basis so our role is to try and bring together initiatives that they can all support together.”

Warn says the Yorkshire racing industry, which employs many people and brings in big revenues for the county, has a great story to tell and the co-operation and collaboration can make the sport in the Broad Acres even stronger.

He said: “It's about driving initiatives like the Yorkshire Wonder Horse, they will all support that. The festival sponsored by Sky Bet in the summer and looking to do more to support their social media and content creation ideas that the courses can all get behind.”

Last year GRIY did some work with Yorkshire Beacon, a charity which concentrates on community-focussed activity to try and highlight racing as a force for good in society.

They also introduces sunflower benches on courses that give people a quiet space if they want it on a busy race day.

Warn said: “It’s been great fun this year for me, as I have been involved in the heart of the sport. You realise there are not a lot of people at these racecourses, five or six staff sometimes including ground staff, and they have to wear a myriad of hats to get racing on and work incredibly hard and are proud of what they do.

“My wider vision for GRIY is to involve the whole racing community so we do a lot more to support the trainers, Jack Berry House, stable staff and so on.

“We have got the likes of the Johnstons, Richard Fahey, David O’Meara, but also some smaller yards doing well lots of new people like Sam England, who is doing brilliantly at the moment, plus all the stalwarts and personalities, too.”

GRIY also sell an annual season ticket which is on sale now and offers admission to 189 fixtures across the county.

Valid from April 1 to March 31, 2024, the county’s racing year also includes 60 weekend and bank holiday meetings and 27 evening fixtures and costs is £420 for a single and £695 for a joint ticket.

Warn said: “I think it's a friendly sport and the likes of Catterick, Ripon, Beverley, Wetherby on a Tuesday or Wednesday are a great way of connecting.

"That’s the thing with our season ticket, a lot of the holders met each other as a result of going racing a lot.

“They are not natural friends as such they have just met each other racing and enjoy getting together for the day and making the most of it and that is what the sport is all about.”

Season tickets can be booked online https://goracing.co.uk/product/season-ticket/ or email [email protected], by Tuesday, February 28.