Lisa Delany to step down as JETS General Manager after 23 years

JETS has today announced that its General Manager Lisa Delany is to step down from her role in September.  She joined JETS in 2002 and under her leadership JETS has helped over 1,200 jockeys with career development, winning a National Training Award in 2004, and creating a genuine culture shift towards continuous professional development, normalising the access to career support services throughout a jockey’s career and not just towards the end of their riding career.

Delany, who was the inaugural winner of the Rory McDonald Community Award at the Godolphin Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards, also played a key role in securing funding from The Racing Foundation and pushing forward the Jockey Training and Development strategy in recent years and ensuring the Jockey Training Programme adequately meets the needs of all Apprentice and Conditional Jockeys. 

JETS Chair Sheila Bailey said:

“On behalf of the JETS board of Trustees, I would like to extend our sincere thanks to Lisa for her huge contribution to the development of the organisation over the past 23 years.  We are all going to miss her passion and dedication and the success of JETS is very much down to her sterling work.   Lisa has been good enough to give us sufficient time to recruit a successor and the board will be actively working on this in the next weeks.

“I would also like to personally thank Lisa for the help and support she gave me over the past year as I got to know the organisation and I thoroughly enjoyed working with her.  I wish her every success in whatever she chooses to do next.”

PJA Chief Executive, Paul Struthers said:

“During the time Lisa has been at the helm, JETS has significantly enhanced its services to embed continued professional development from the very outset of a jockeys career, whilst continuing to prepare and train jockeys for and throughout their second career.  She will be greatly missed by all the jockeys who she has dedicated so much time and effort to supporting over the years, and can be immensely proud of all JETS has achieved under her leadership.”

Lisa Delany said:

“After nearly 25 years of working as General Manager of JETS, I have taken the very difficult, yet considered decision to step away from this role.  Jockeys are the very bravest,  most hardworking and determined of individuals, and it has been a privilege to work with such an amazing cohort of athletes over the years. 

"I am proud of the role I’ve played in developing the support network now available to jockeys as elite athletes, equitable with any other professional sport.  It has been a pleasure to work collaboratively with The Professional Jockeys Association and The Injured Jockeys Fund in this network and am grateful for the support received over the last five years from The Racing Foundation. 

"I will continue in my role until September 2025 with the aim of ensuring a smooth transition to my successor.”