Hereford Racecourse's new general manager started her job this week.

And Katie Langdell, who will be 26 later this month, had even added another element to her CV before she arrived - becoming a racecourse commentator at Exeter Races when the official man was posted absent!

She won rave reviews from the racing industry's own newspaper - the Racing Post - for her efforts.

Katie, formerly assistant manager at Wincanton Racecourse, becomes the ninth female manager among Britain's 59 racecourses.

Three of them work for Hereford Racecourse's owners, Northern Racing.

Katie, the youngest manager in Northern Racing's history, hails from Newton Abbot in Devon.

She said: "I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into the work here at Hereford - it's a tremendous opportunity.

"The next three months are the busiest of the year, so it's going to be a very steep learning curve."

She fills the vacancy left by Simon Kershaw's promotion back in September.

Read Katie's new National Hunt racing column in the Hereford Times exclusively from next week.