Tatler UK - 08.2019

Tatler August 2019 tatler.com

[house and training yard famous

as the former home of two Derby

and multiple international winners

• the place, too, where one of the
  most successful jockeys of all time,
  Frankie Dettori, honed his skills
  and Francesca spent an idyllic
  childhood. (The property was sold
  earlier this year to trainer Charlie
  Fellowes for a reported £5 million.)
  Themselves equestrian royalty, the
  Cumani family have deep royal
  connections: the Queen aside,
  Luca enjoys lunches with the
  Duchess of Cornwall, and Francesca
  is good friends with Zara Tindall,
  who she says is ‘lovely and really
  easy to be around’. They met when
  Zara was guest of honour at a polo
  match in Australia, where she lived
  until recently.
  A lot has changed in the past few
  months. Until last year, Francesca
  was half of an equestrian power
  couple, married to the polo player
  Rob Archibald and living between
  Sydney and Newmarket with their
  three-year-old son, Harry. Then,
  four years after their lavish Tuscan
  wedding, the couple announced
  both their separation and the news
  that Francesca was moving back to
  Britain. She has since embarked on
  a relationship with a fellow ITV
  racing presenter, Oli  Bell, to the
  delight of racing gossips. ‘I’m sure
  we gave people a lot to talk about,’
  she says with a wry smile. ‘Lots of
  people were supportive, lots had
  their own opinions, and some peo-
  ple like to make up stories.’
  Francesca commands attention,
  looking effortlessly elegant as she
  reports trackside for ITV in Britain
  and for Australia’s Channel Ten.
  Her wardrobe is vibrant and often
  purposely vintage in a bid not to be
  caught in the same LK Bennett as
  anyone placing bets and cheering
  their favourite on.
  Yet Francesca wrinkles her petite
  nose at the thought of being a racing
  style icon. ‘Some people say they only
  tune in to see what I am wearing. If
  it brings a different audience into
  racing, then that’s great,’ she says,
  with a shrug. ‘On a race day when
  we are all busy, I have to take at
  least an extra hour more than the

‘I’m sure we

gave people a

lot to talk about.

People like to

make up stories’

men to get ready. That is time I

don’t have to do other things. If

you dress down then people talk,

but if you get dressed up people

also have an opinion. Other women

can be the worst.’

Although Francesca is far more

than her model good looks – she

speaks fluent Italian and studied

French and Spanish at Bristol

University – she reluctantly admits

that being an attractive woman

‘probably helped’ when it came to

landing her first television present-

ing job in Australia in 2008.

She was approached after giving a

television interview about her father’s

horse, Purple Moon, at the Melbourne

Cup, but had next to no experience

of presenting. ‘I didn’t have any

training. It was very much a case of

learning on the job and I am still

learning and improving and getting

new techniques all the time,’ she

says with winning modestly.

She has, in fact, proved herself to

be accomplished in front of the

camera, with her down-to-earth

presenting style, passion for the

sport and the racing knowledge she

absorbed ‘by osmosis growing up

in the yard and at the kitchen table

with my dad’.

The buzz and activity of an in-

ternationally successful yard was

intoxicating for young Francesca.

She mucked out horses and played

‘jockeys’, challenging the thorough-

breds to pretend races on her pony.

There was no question she would carve

a career out of her passion for horses,

but at five-foot-nine, she was too

tall to become a professional jockey.

‘I pestered my dad to let me ride

the racehorses. He finally relented

Clockwise from top left, polo player Rob

Archibald, Francesca’s former husband;

Francesca at last year’s Goodwood Ball;

her father, trainer Luca Cumani at

Epsom, 2016

Rabbit and wool jacket, £2,350; cotton

body, £840; leather skirt, £9,400; silk

socks, £230; leather and brass belt,

£650; leather boots, £830, all by DIOR

Previous page, leather coat, £4,775;

cashmere and silk jumper, £1,175;

cotton trousers, £1,385, suede

and shearing boots, £429, all

by RALPH LAUREN COLLECTION

For stockists, see Address Book.

Hair and Make-up: Julie Cooper

using Tom Ford

RETURN FROM OZ

Francesca photographed at her

parents’ home, Fittocks Stud

PHOTOGRAPHS: INSTAGRAM/@FRANCESCACUMANI; POLO IN THE VALLEY/STATES OF STYLE; REX FEATURES

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