PAUL Townend was a deserving winner of Horse Racing Ireland’s National Hunt Award earlier this month and it’s great to see him nominated for RTÉ’s Sports Personality of the Year Award too.

The winner, to be decided by “a panel of expert judges from across the Irish sporting media and performance world” will be announced this evening (Saturday) and it’s fair to say that Paul is one of the outsiders, up against Johnny Sexton, Katie Taylor and Limerick all-star Aaron Gillane.

Willie Mullins is also in the running for the RTÉ Sport Manager of the Year Award. His fellow nominees include rugby coaches Andy Farrell and Ronan O’Gara, Limerick hurling’s John Kiely, and Stephen Bradley of Shamrock Rovers.

Across the water, Frankie Dettori is one of six nominations for this year’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Sir Anthony McCoy is the only jockey to have won the award and that was in 2010. Dettori himself finished third in 1996, the year of his ‘Magnificent Seven’, when he went through the card with all seven winners at Ascot. Hollie Doyle was third in 2020.

The winner will be announced next Tuesday, December 19th.

Bookmakes make Dettori a 16/1 chance to win with England goalkeeper Mary Earps their 1/7 favourite.