BROADCASTER Clare Balding who hails from the borough said she is “completely blown away” after being recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

Clare, who was born in Kingsclere and whose family still owns Park House Stables in the village, was one of 1,134 people acknowledged in the list which marks the extraordinary contributions and services of people across the UK.

Read more: Four Basingstoke people in Queen's Birthday Honour's list

Fifty-one-year-old Clare, who is a journalist and author, was awarded a CBE for services to sport and to charity.

Following the announcement earlier this week on the eve of the Platinum Jubilee weekend, the sports presenter told PA news agency that she saw her “prestigious honour” as “a reflection of how much people care about sport”.

She added: “There is still a long way to go in the promotion of women’s sport and paralympic sport and I want to keep spreading the message that we can learn so much from the way athletes recover from setbacks, maintain their patience and work together in a team.”

Clare comes from a horse training family, and her brother Andrew now owns the family-run business Park House Stables in Kingsclere.

After graduating from university in 1994 Clare began working for BBC radio and has been presenting major events on television and radio since, becoming the face of the BBC’s horse racing output in 1998.

 

As one of the country’s highest profile female sports presenters, Clare has worked on various sporting fixtures including six Olympic Games, five Paralympic Games and five Winter Olympic Games as well as major royal events.

Clare has returned to her home village of Kingsclere numerous times during her successful career as a broadcaster, including in 2015 when she read extracts from her children’s book at Kingsclere Community Library.

Posting on Twitter yesterday, Clare thanked everyone for the “lovely messages” adding: “I’m completely blown away and will do my best to live up to the honour. Many congratulations to everyone who has received honours in this very special year. Wishing everyone a fantastic Jubilee weekend.”

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