Lord Oaksey is to become an honorary member of the Jockey Club.

A regular face on Channel 4 Racing, he also writes for the Daily Telegraph and the Racing Post but is best known to many for his work for the Injured Jockeys' Fund, of which he has been chairman since 1982.

The Noble Lord' (as he is popularly referred to by small-screen colleague John McCririck) is one of three new honorary members, alongside David Hillyard, the recently-retired managing director of the Racecourse Holdings Trust, and the chairman of the Australian Racing Board, currently Bob Charley.

Four further ordinary members have been elected; Michael Felton, a steward at Taunton at Wincanton; Lady Lloyd-Webber, the founder and co-owner of the Watership Down Stud; Edmund Mahoney, the chairman of Tattersalls and Tattersalls (Ireland), who retires from the industry committee this year; and David Turner, eight-times champion point-to-point rider and a racecourse steward since 1977.