On The Edge, by Jenny Pitman (Macmillan) £16.99 in hardback

THREE years after Jenny Pitman, Britain's most famous horse trainer, made the difficult decision to retire she radiates happiness.

On the surface she is relaxed, but there is no doubt that Pitman is a formidable character.

She had to be tougher than any male trainer in her battle to become First Lady of Racing, with a career which included two Grand National wins and two Cheltenham Gold Cups.

After retiring following a battle with thyroid cancer, she had a glimpse of the quiet life and didn't like it. So, instead, she narrated a video on the history of the Grand National, is in demand as a public speaker and has just completed her first novel.

It is billed as the story of an outsider in the privileged world of racing, a woman struggling to succeed in a male-dominated profession.

She admits that On The Edge is drawn from personal experience but plays down similarities between herself and heroine Jan Hardy.

Jan and Jenny Pitman are not twins and they're certainly not the same person. They may be sisters, they may be cousins but they are distant relatives, she says.

There is no doubt what Pitman's priority is now writing. A second novel is due to be published in the autumn.

Waiting to see how the book does is quite daunting, she says, It's like leading up to the Grand National when you've got a runner in a big race.