Francesca Cumani is a horse racing presenter working for

ITV Racing ''ITV Racing'' is a programme produced by ITV Sport for races shown on ITV or ITV4 in the United Kingdom. The programme is referred to as ''Racing on STV'' in Northern and Central Scotland on STV. In its previous incarnation, the show was an ...

and 10 Sport.

Education

Cumani was educated at Tudor Hall School, a boarding and day

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

for girls, between the village of

Bloxham Bloxham is a village and civil parish in northern Oxfordshire several miles from the Cotswolds, about southwest of Banbury. It is on the edge of a valley and overlooked by Hobb Hill. The village is on the A361 road. The 2011 Census recorded ...

and the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

, in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. She left the school in 2001. Following school, Cumani attended the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

, from which she graduated with a degree in French and Spanish.

Career

After attending university Cumani worked in the family business of training and breeding race horses. After taking horses to Australia on a trip, she was offered an opportunity to be a guest presenter on Australia's Channel 7's horse racing broadcast. This led to a permanent job with CNN presenting ''Winning Post''. She presented it in both English and Spanish. Cumani is also a presenter on Australia's Network 10 Melbourne Cup Coverage. Cumani began working for

in 2016. In February 2019 Ed Chamberlin and Cumani were joint winners of the Broadcast Sports Presenter of the Year at the SJA Awards.

Personal life

Cumani was born in Newmarket, Suffolk, and is the daughter of trainer

Luca Cumani Luca M. Cumani (born 7 April 1949, in Milan, Italy) is an Italian thoroughbred horse trainer and breeder. He trained at Bedford House Stables in Newmarket from 1976 to 2019. He has trained a multitude of high-profile horses, including seven Cla ...

. Francesca received her amateur jockey licence at the age of 18 and had four wins. In 2014 Cumani married Australian international polo player, Rob Archibald. In April 2016 their son was born. In 2018 Cumani and Archibald separated. Following their separation, Cumani was in a relationship with fellow ITV Racing presenter, Oli Bell. They split in 2020. In December 2021, she announced that she is expecting her second child with partner Max Johnson. In June 2022, Cumani gave birth to a son, Teddy.

References

Living people Alumni of the University of Bristol ITV people Sports commentators People from Newmarket, Suffolk Women sports announcers British horse racing writers and broadcasters English sports broadcasters English people of Italian descent Equestrian commentators 1983 births {{England-tv-bio-stub