GRAEME Roe will be bringing a dash of intrigue to this year's Cheltenham Festival.

The 71-year-old's name has long been associated with the races as a trainer, and earlier still, a jockey.

Now he will be adding racing novelist to the list with his latest book Dangerous Outsider, which is being published today, Wednesday, to co-incide with the famous National Hunt festival this week which runs until Friday.

Graeme draws on his 30 years' experience of steeplechasing to create many of the characters in his new book, the third in his Jay Jessop series.

But those from the world of racing who buy it in the hope of finding themselves immortalised in print will be disappointed.

"There are only two characters that are deliberately based upon people I know and they are both happy with it, but I'm not revealing their names," said Graeme.

"Edward Gillespie, managing director of Cheltenham Racecourse, is expecting a walk-on part in book four though."

Dangerous Outsider revolves around the Cotswolds-based champion trainer Jay Jessop, whose status is challenged when an Irish rival arrives in Lambourne and starts buying horses almost irrespective of price.

As the newcomer sets about trying to supersede Jessop, a sinister Far Eastern connection to his activities begins to emerge.

"Everybody who has read the manuscript is stunned by the ending," said Graeme, who has lived in the tiny hamlet of Hyde, near Minchinhampton, for 23 years.

Penning novels is the latest chapter in a career that has seen Graeme successfully combining horses with his work in advertising and public relations.

He was spurred on to write his first racing crime thriller, A Touch of Vengeance, after a conversation with a friend during a flight four years ago.

Graeme self-published his first two novels after his manuscripts were rejected by several book companies.

He was well into his third when he was approached by the publishers Constable and Robinson, which was not only interested in printing that one, but his first two books as well which went on to sell in their thousands.

Graeme was initially given a Christmas 2007 deadline for his latest novel, but this was subsequently brought forward by several months to co-incide with Cheltenham.

"It was the end of May and they wanted the finished manuscript by the end of August which was in itself a nightmare," he said.

"Then the editorial director told me that the board had really liked the characters in my previous books and wanted me to keep them, this was bad news as I had just killed one of them off which meant I had to go back and re-write a huge bit of the book.

"I finished the book with two days to spare with a massive sigh of relief."

Writing to such tight deadlines might seem a near impossible challenge, but Graeme's life has taught him much about discipline and tenacity.

He combined his studies at Nottingham University, which resulted in a first class honours degree in economics, with a spell in top class athletics which ended when he broke a bone in his foot.

Graeme's career as a trainer, fielding horses such as All Bright, Don Perignon and The Grand Maitre, came after a decade in the saddle which began when he was 40.

"I had my own horse and my trainer, David Nicholson, was horrified when I told him I was going to ride it: he told me I was too big, too old and not fit enough," recalled Graeme who is six foot tall.

"That was a red rag to a bull.

"In his autobiography, David described me as being too brave for his own good' which I rather like. I hope my wife will put it on my epitaph."