From walking a dog on Doncaster racecourse to attending the Leger as the PM's wife - Lady Starmer and her love of racing

If the prime minister were unsure where to put his money in the Portland, he need not have looked far for advice. For while Sir Keir Starmer's sport of choice is football, his wife is very much a Flat racing fan – and it was at Doncaster that her interest was sparked.

"My gran used to live on Doncaster racecourse and I walked the neighbour's dog there as a little child," Lady Starmer told the Racing Post when attending Qipco British Champions Day last October. It was while enjoying her afternoon at Ascot that the NHS hospital worker met racehorse owner Emma Banks. A friendship was born.

"I didn't know her by sight but someone introduced me to her, we had the loveliest chat and got on incredibly well," says Banks. "We ended up spending quite a lot of the day together. We went out into the parade ring and had a couple of bets with the bookies by the grandstands. I thought this was someone I could get on with really well because of our mutual love of horseracing."