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Carol Vorderman is racing’s most glamorous owner who fell in love with the sport through late friend Richard Whiteley

, Carol Vorderman is racing’s most glamorous owner who fell in love with the sport through late friend Richard Whiteley

CAROL VORDERMAN is racing’s most glamorous owner – who fell in love with the sport through late friend Richard Whiteley.

A co-owner of one runner with former Top Gear and current Grand Tour star Richard Hammond, Vorders, 60, adds a dash of style to any racecourse she visits.

Vorderman is a regular at Cheltenham Festival
She fell in love with the sport through her late friend and former Countdown co-host Whiteley

Nowhere was that more apparent than her recent trip to Ffos Las in Wales.

Vorderman shared a photo of herself getting dressed up for the day out before arriving at the track – where she had a race named in her honour – by helicopter.

She’s also a regular at Cheltenham Festival and was spotted alongside bra tycoon Michelle Mone there a few years ago.

But it was through late Countdown co-star Whiteley that Vorderman speaks most fondly of her time in the sport.

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The duo became household names thanks to the hit Channel 4 show, which they both fronted until Whiteley’s death in June 2005.

There was clear on-camera chemistry between them, with Vorders having the audience in stitches with her comments on her co-star’s garish attire.

There was a bond between them off-camera too and in between long lunches characterised by a bottle or two of Champagne they would drive off to the racecourse.

They owned horses together, with perhaps the best known being Mare Of Wetwang – a play on Whiteley’s honorary roll as Mayor of Wetwang, a village in Yorkshire.

Vorderman told SunSport columnist Matt Chapman: “Whiters and I had a couple of horses together.

‘I LOVED IT’

“I absolutely loved Whiters, it was mutual.

“We were always at the races, whether it was Ascot, particularly York, Ripon.

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“We recorded Countdown in Leeds so we were Yorkshire-goers. Middlehman is beautiful too, where a lot of the trainers have their lovely yards.

“I loved it. Love it, love it, love it!”

, Carol Vorderman is racing’s most glamorous owner who fell in love with the sport through late friend Richard Whiteley

Vorderman was recently celebrating a decnt winner on the track

Mare of Wetwang was trained by Vorders’ good friend James Bethell, and Whiteley had another filly called Al Ava Consanant.

The horses were never world-beaters, and the same could probably be said of Subway Surf, who Vorderman owns a share of with Hammond.

But it’s clear Vorders loves the sport – even if she is a little too modest about her own success in it.

She joked the only thing she had ever won in racing was title of the longest race after Ffos Las honoured her with the ‘Carol Vorderman Loves West Wales Nursery Handicap’.

BIG WINNER

However, she put a photo of her winning bet slip showing a smart £110 win after putting £20 on a 9-2 forecast.

Vorders wrote alongside the pic: “John Lovell betting wasn’t too happy with me tho… I kept winning.”

Let’s hope there’s plenty more of that in the future.

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, Carol Vorderman is racing’s most glamorous owner who fell in love with the sport through late friend Richard Whiteley

Vorderman is a huge racing fan and even has a race named after her

, Carol Vorderman is racing’s most glamorous owner who fell in love with the sport through late friend Richard Whiteley

The maths genius has got the edge over bookies too with some decent-priced winners

, Carol Vorderman is racing’s most glamorous owner who fell in love with the sport through late friend Richard Whiteley

Vorderman has two horses in training at the moment, including one with Grand Tour star Hammond

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