Clare Balding

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clare Balding (born January 29, 1971 in Kingsclere, Hampshire, England) is a BBC sports presenter, and journalist.

In 1989 and 1990, she was a leading amateur flat jockey and Champion Lady Rider in 1990.

She was educated at Downe House, a girls' independent school near Thatcham in Berkshire, and studied English at Newnham College, Cambridge where she was President of the Cambridge Union Society in Easter 1992 and graduated in 1993.

In summer 1994, she made her debut as a television presenter during Royal Ascot. She became BBC horse racing presenter in December 1997.

Clare Balding was the Royal Television Society's Sports Presenter of the Year in 2003. In the same year, she won the Racing Journalist of the Year Award.

She also has close family links to horse racing: her father, Ian Balding, trained Mill Reef, 1971 winner of the Epsom Derby, Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, and her brother, Andrew Balding, trained the winner of the 2003 Epsom Oaks. The latter win led to a very emotional post-race interview with her brother. She is currently in a relationship with the BBC Radio 4 continuity announcer and newsreader Alice Arnold.[1]

She also presents items on rugby league for BBC Sport and is known to be a keen follower of the sport.