DO you recognise this former Grand National jockey who has found a new calling as a TV star dancer?
She looks a world away from the mud-spattered jockey who would ride her way back into the winner’s enclosure during a fantastic career in the saddle.
Now you’re more likely to find her doing the cha-cha than going chasing.
But Nina Carberry, who raced in the Grand National six times, has emerged as the bookies’ favourite in an entirely new market.
That’s because Nina, 37, has been the breakout star of this season’s Dancing With The Stars.
One of the biggest shows on Irish television, Carberry has blown away the public and judges with her polished performances.
Bookies have her down as the 6-4 favourite to win the whole thing, but Nina, who retired from racing in 2018, is less confident in her own ability.
She said: “I don’t think I will win the competition.
“It took me so long to learn each of the first two dances and now there is only a week between each dance.
“I don’t have the six weeks build up anymore.
“I definitely won’t be as good as I was and I’m not expecting high marks.
“I am learning from scratch so I need the time, so I think it will get really tough for me.
Regardless of what she thinks, Nina is proving herself versatile over two codes.
She was a top class jockey, riding more than 400 winners after really announcing herself with victory on Dabiroun at the 2005 Cheltenham Festival.
That was the first time in 18 years that a woman jockey had won a race at the Festival.
Some 16 years later Rachael Blackmore made history as the first woman to be crowned top jockey at jump racing’s biggest meeting.
Mum-of-two Carberry completed the Grand National four times and her best finish was seventh on Character Building in 2010.
She won the Irish equivalent the following year on 12-1 shot Organisedconfusion, a horse trained by her uncle Arthur Moore.
Nina married fellow jockeys Katie and Ruby Walsh’s brother Ted in 2012.
She took a break from racing in November 2016 when she announced her pregnancy.
‘IT WAS MAD THINKING I LOOKED LIKE THAT’
Their daughter Rosie was born in May 2017 but Nina returned to racing with a bang by winning her first race back at Ballinrobe that same year.
Nina has still found time for horses to be a big part of her life, despite perhaps reaching new levels of fame on Dancing With The Stars.
Speaking to Ladbrokes about how she manages to cram in dance rehearsals to her normal routine, she said: “I have the horses to look after at home, so I can only practise in the evening and can’t put in the time that I would like to.
“But being on the show, I couldn’t get over my transformation, they made me into a different person altogether.
“It was mad thinking I even looked like that. Just looking at myself, I was like ‘this isn’t me’.
“The glam team do an amazing job backstage with costume/make-up/hair.
“It’s class to be a part of the whole thing and it’s an experience in itself.”
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