I’VE LOST 16LB WITH SEVEN MORE TO GO ...THEN I’LL BE READY TO RACE AT ASCOT

MICHAEL OWEN has retrained as a jockey – and will run his first race next week.

The former striker (below) has lost 16lb, “with 7lb more to come off” prior to a race at Ascot, on Calder Prince. He is a succesful owner-breeder and has his own yard in Cheshire. But he explained: “For 37 years of my life, I had never sat on a horse – I’d never been allowed to because of football.

“I’d never put one leg either side of a horse before and that happened five months ago. I was asked to ride in a charity race and thought, ‘Well, it’s one way of trying to get fit, it’s one way of getting down to a good weight’ because, as we know, it is not easy when we retire.

“At the moment, I’m thinking, ‘Why did I do it?’ Because I’m not eating and getting out on these halfa-ton machines that basically want to kill you, it’s not easy at all. It’s not like a riding school! I know I’m stupid.

“I’d probably had a couple of drinks when I agreed to do it. And my mum is still beside herself and telling me not to do it and my wife is saying, ‘What are you doing?’

“The team around me are brilliant. I have progressed from a six-year-old calm horse to younger ones and I’ve decided to ride one that is a bit of a hard puller.

“He’s really keen to get on with it, but he’s best for the job. I went to Wolverhampton for a racehorse gallops behind closed doors.

“We were in big, open spaces – the horse can go anywhere he wants, I have to control him – so that was a huge confidence booster.”