Manchester City TV star Natalie Pike champions inclusion of women in horse racing

Manchester City TV presenter Natalie Pike is championing horse racing’s inclusivity.

The trailblazer has carved out a successful career in radio, television and as a live events host since she gave up modelling. For the last 13 years she has been a regular presenter of champions ’s live match day coverage for the club.

She also works within and was part of the RacedayTV team during the in March, and on Saturday will be the host of the Women’s Day event at Doncaster racecourse during the Virgin Bet raceday.

The day will provide a platform to celebrate women in horse racing, the latest in a series of social impact initiatives from the bookmaker designed to create a more inclusive environment.

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Pike will compere panel discussions with guests drawn from within racing’s female trailblazers.

“This is not Ladies day, it’s ‘Women’s Day’,” she said. “So this is all about inclusivity and diversity and welcoming everybody to racing, which is something I have really felt since starting to work in racing in the last two years

“It’s also about promoting and making people aware of the incredible women who work in racing, not just the jockeys but the trainers and all women working behind the scenes by giving them a platform.

“I love speaking to these women who have come from really different backgrounds, finding out about their journeys and the difficulties they face.

“Horse racing is for everybody. You don’t have to have an incredible knowledge of the sport. I’m not into the details but I still love the sport.”

Pike said she has found working in racing a different experience to when she first entered the football broadcasting .

“From the very first time I worked at a racecourse, whether I spoke to punters or jockeys, I felt welcomed and accepted,” she said.

“When I started my football career, which to be fair was 12 years ago, there was misogyny and sexism and a sense I had to prove myself always, which I have never felt in horse racing.

“People didn’t care where you came from, or what you knew or even what your reason for being there was. If you have a love for the sport and want to be part of it then that was enough.”

Pike worked successfully as a model for five years, appearing as a hostess on ’s The Price Is Right, but since 2011 has been a mainstay at the Etihad Stadium, also working for the and host of the No Tippy Tappy podcast with .

“I think my story is different to everybody else that is broadcasting at the minute,” she explained.

“I modelled full-time until I was in my late 20s, early 30s, then I left the modelling world. I’d enjoyed it, I’d had a great time, I’d travelled the world, but the pressure wasn’t for me. I had to phone my agent every week to tell her what my weight was. It got too much.”

Pike found a job at the Christie cancer hospital in Manchester where she was part of its fundraising team, until she was approached by Manchester City, the club she had supported since chlldhood, to work in the fan zone.

“It wasn’t anything I’d really dreamed about,” she said. “There was only a handful of women working in football. After that it took eight or nine years for me to have the confidence in my ability to do it as a full time professional.

“My first season was the first year Manchester City won the Premier League.”

PIke will host two discussions, one featuring former jockey Sammy Jo Bell, Go Racing In Yorkshire general manager Charlotte Russell and Sophie Green, trainee clerk of the course at Doncaster.

In the other session on creative inclusivity in racing the panellists will be Rachel Harwood, Doncaster’s executive director, Racing Welfare CEO Dawn Goodfellow and Emma Kay, founder of the WalkSafe app.

The events are open to everyone and form part of Virgin Bet’s new brand purpose, ‘A Good Bet’, a campaign focussed on ways in which the brand can knock down pre-existing barriers within sports and culture at large.