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Clare Balding was born into a racing family - her father, Ian, was the trainer of Mill Reef who won the Derby in 1971, the same year that Clare was born. Whilst her father would never forget the year that his horse won the Derby he would usually fail to remember that it was also the year of his daughter's birth. Horses came first and they were the priority in Ian Balding's life: the family had to adjust accordingly. He was a gifted and successful trainer who understood the animals in his care and his record, including Mill Reef's Derby success speaks for itself. Clare's childhood was separate from the life of the racing stable but she inherited her family's love of animals.

Each chapter in the book is devoted to one of the ponies, dogs and horses which were part of Clare's childhood and adolescence and she cleverly weaves in the stories of her life. She's frank and honest about her own shortcomings and her family's idiosyncrasies, but what comes through clearly is her genuine love of animals and it speaks volumes that in all the races she rode as a jockey she never used a whip, although - characteristically - she says that it was because she was frightened of falling off.

Clare is best known and widely respected as a sports commentator but this largely came about by accident following a chance encounter with the racing commentator Cornelius Lysaght and which led to her taking over as the BBC's racing presenter after the departure of Julian Wilson. There would be very few who would disagree that she has been a resounding success in sports commentary and elsewhere - as she most recently demonstrated in the 2012 Olympics coverage.

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