Alice Plunkett: Equine Correspondent, National Hunt Expert & Former Jockey

  • April 17, 2026
  • Sophie

When you look at some of the families that have dominated both flat racing and the National Hunt discipline, it is hard to argue against the idea that it is a sport that tends to keep things close to home. That idea isn’t really put under much scrutiny by the life of Alice Plunkett, who is married to the eventer, William Fox-Pitt, the pair having four children together.

Still, the fact that she married into horse racing is not to diminish from the accomplishments of Plunkett herself, who has been part of the various English broadcasters who cover the sport for more than two decades, earning her own place in the sport’s history.

Alice Plunkett in the Media


Having been in the horse racing industry for many years, Alice Plunkett decided to hang up her spurs in 2000, turning her attention to a media career. She worked hard to establish herself as a trusted voice in the world of horse racing, initially being brought on board by Channel 4 in order to front the broadcaster’s coverage of National Hunt events. When the rights to show live racing moved to ITV, Plunkett moved with them, continuing her ability to tell a story to the watching public about what a given horse race was all about. Although she is firmly established as a TV personality, that isn’t the only area of the media in which she’s worked.

Equine Correspondent

Plunkett has also worked with the likes of BBC Radio 5 Live and Horse & Country, becoming an equine correspondent for both organisations. On top of that, she has also had something to contribute to other major broadcasters such as Sky Sports and Eurosport. Viewers of the channel Animal Planet will also no doubt recognise Plunkett as the host of the television show Horse Tails. She has always brought a level of confidence and expertise to the microphone that has allowed her to offer a forward-thinking perspective to viewers, looking to educate them about the ins and outs of horse races in general.

National Hunt Expert

It is the world of National Hunt races that Plunkett has been a particular expert in in more recent years, however. Having earned money from both her role as a broadcaster and also when she was a rider, she is committed to working with charities and has used her well-known persona in order to raise money for several different equine causes. On top of that, she is a board member of the Pitt Rivers Museum, using her storytelling ability, honed over decades of work behind the microphone, in order to contribute to the museum’s mission of both preservation and education, often delivering talks to academic institutions.

Across more than two decades, Plunkett has worked for numerous different broadcasters, knowing exactly what it takes to tailor what she has to say depending on which channel it is that she’s working for at any given moment. For a long time, Plunkett has focussed on jump racing, meaning that she is busy from October through until April each year. Even after all of her years in the industry, she still does plenty of homework on the evening before a race day, getting to the track at about 7.30 am in order to make sure that she is presentable, gearing up to cover the pre-parade ring, parade ring and Winners’ Enclosure during the day.

Rising Through the Media Ranks

It is an impressive rise through the media ranks for someone who eschewed the usual nepotism to make it into the industry, instead working as a runner for Festival Radio. From there, she went on to have her own show with the broadcaster, covering both The Derby and Royal Ascot. After that, she was invited to do a screen test with the Racing Channel, working there until it shut down and she instead became a host on At the Races, moving to Racing UK when it became a channel for the sport. It was 2001 that she was made part of the main team at Channel 4, having previously worked on The Lunchtime Show.

Plunkett the Jockey

 

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Alice Plunkett’s career in the saddle actually began by taking part in hunts. That experience then led her to racing in point-to-point events, earning her enough experience to become a National Hunt rider in her own right. Arguably one of the biggest moments in the saddle during Plunkett’s career came in 1993, which was when she took part in the Fox Hunters’ Chase at Aintree Racecourse. That is one of the two biggest hunter chase events in the calendar, offering her a sense of precisely what it is that goes into such races. When you consider that she was just 19 at the time, taking part in just her fifth ride on a racecourse, it makes it even more impressive.

Her 14th place finish on Bold King’s Hussar, a horse trained by her grandfather, was the start of a career that went on to include winning races in hurdle races, flat events and over fences. She also turned her hand to eventing, riding at the Badminton Horse Trials and representing Great Britain at the European Three Day Event Championships before she turned 21. That means that she is the only female jockey that has ridden both at the Badminton Horse Trials and over the same jumps as the Grand National is raced on, which means that she is well placed in order to be able to offer her expertise and insights in all kinds of racing.