'I do constantly pinch myself, thinking how lucky I am'

A RACING commentator applied for a post in bomb disposal, but didn't get the job.

- BY DAVID YATES

It turns out he was over-qualified.

"I'm standing on a roof, talking to myself about the race," is how ITV Racing's lead commentator Richard Hoiles talks down the prospect of relaying live on television the unfolding drama of a 24-runner Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup (for amateur riders).

Or detailing the cavalry charge of a Grand National, Stewards' Cup or Weatherbys Super Sprint - to the rest of us a task of unquilted terror but to Hoiles his nine to five for more than three decades.

"I'm not nervous, as such," he says. "Excited? Yes. I only get nervous if I haven't quite followed my routine.

"As a friend said to me who plays golf, you walk up, you take two swings, you sum up the shot, you speak to your caddie, you stand over it and hit it.

"It doesn’t matter whether it's to win The Open or it's playing with your mates.

"It's the process that makes you feel comfortable. As long as you've done it, you're never nervous."