A CENTURY-OLD link between the HongKong Bank and the Jockey Club has been broken with the appointment of the Chief Executive of the Monetary Fund, Joseph Yam, as a Steward of the Club.
Yam, a voting member and horse-owner, takes over as a Steward from the HongKong Bank's Paul Selway-Swift who retires from the board on February 29 to take up a major appointment in London.
In an unbroken line from the official founding of the Jockey Club in 1884, the HongKong Bank has supplied many chairmen of Stewards.
In effect, they had virtually a mandatory seat on the Stewards' panel.
Recent chairmen of stewards have included Sir Michael Sandberg and Sir John Saunders, who oversaw the switch to professional racing in the early 1970s.
It is understood there was considerable pressure to maintain the long-standing link with the bank but the 47-year-old Yam's unquestioned expertise and his highly-successful reign as Hong Kong's top money man weighed very heavily in his favour.
Yam, a member of the Jockey Club since 1979 and a voting member for 10 years, owns the horse, Insider, and also has a private purchase griffin which has still to race.