‘I never considered a life in front of the lens ... it just didn’t happen to people like us’

Growing up in rural Cork, Jane Mangan never imagined that some day she would “sew her threads into the fabric of Ascot” - but she did exactly that last summer.

The horse racing pundit and former jockey was the keynote speaker at The Echo’s Women in Sport awards last week – a full circle moment of sorts for the Conna woman who was recognised at the same event 15 years earlier for her own success.

It was not her sporting journey, however, that Jane shared with attendees, but the story of the hard work and sheer determination that led her to reach her ambition to become a part of Royal Ascot broadcasting history.

“My earliest memory of Royal Ascot is watching the horse-drawn carriages through the wonder of a child’s eye. I vividly recall guessing the colour of Queen Elizabeth’s outfit with my Granny. She wasn’t much into racing, but the Royal procession was never missed.

“My Granny didn’t watch movies but to her, that was Hollywood. It’s as if for those 20 minutes, the rest of the world was in black and white and that was screaming colour,” said Jane.

To Jane, her Granny and Queen Elizabeth weren’t all that different.

“The Queen and my Granny were the same age. In my mind, both were royalty, only their perspectives were different.

“As a child, it’s quite something to see those who you admire most in the world watch in awe of someone else. At that point in my life, the magnitude of the event didn’t resonate, but knowing it mattered to someone I worshipped, meant I knew it had to be special,” she said.

Jane tried her hand at various sports growing up.

“As a teen, I had the athleticism of a wooden plank so it won’t come as any surprise to know that I was bang average at camogie with St Catherine’s, never had the attitude good enough for running, and my few attempts on a golf suggest I’m better off in the caddy than on the green.”

Horses were always a part of life.

“My pedigree is equine through and through. My parents are national hunt folk, so my brothers and I always had ponies growing up.”

Life growing up in rural Ireland then was very different to that of children of today, explained Jane, with ‘dial-up internet’ and ‘corded phones’.

“Despite the handful of channels on our TV, we were exposed to some of the best racing narrators of any era. From Clare Balding, Jim McGrath and Alaister Down on BBC to the ‘Godfathers’ Robert Hall and Ted Walsh on RTÉ - they were Gods in our house.”

While Jane worshipped the broadcasters, she never saw it as a career she could pursue.

The Conna woman said there was an expectation that as the only girl, and the youngest child, she’d get the ‘proper, pensionable job’.

“I never wanted to be a broadcaster when I was a child because, I never considered that path to be an option on my journey.

“Had I told my mother when I was in school that I was going to be the next Tracy Piggott or Miriam O’Callaghan, she would have told me to ‘catch myself on’.

“So, subconsciously, I never considered a life in front of the lens. It just didn’t happen to people like us.”

Jane pursued a business degree at CIT. She had great success as an amateur rider.

“I enjoyed a decent level of success in a short period of time: winners at the Galway, Fairyhouse and Punchestown Festivals were obvious highlights, a Grade 1 and a few premier handicaps. Sharing the Champion Ladies title with my childhood hero, turned Fine Gael MEP, Nina Carberry and any winner for my parents were stand-out memories,” she said.

Whilst at the races one day, Jane did an interview that opened a door. A weekend job in radio followed. Two years later, in 2018, she made her television debut on RTÉ Racing at the Galway Festival and just weeks later she began working with Racing TV.

From the early days, though, there was one seemingly elusive event that Jane wanted to be a part of.

The Cork woman first visited Ascot as an amateur rider in 2013. “ I don’t remember the race but I can clearly recall waiting by the scales and watching the superstar jockeys leaving the weigh room for the preceding race, the King George. Legends such as Soumillion, Murtagh, Peslier and Ryan Moore all behaving as if they were about to have lunch, filtered out into the paddock for one of the marque races of the year.

“That perspective left a lasting impression on me. Here I was on one of the biggest days on the world horse racing calendar. I thought, I hope my grandparents have the TV on at home.”

In 2019, she paid another visit to the Royal meeting after flying out there in a cargo plane with a horse who contested the Norfolk Stakes. “I was a groom for this venture, buying a brand-new outfit just to lead up a runner in the ring at Royal Ascot. Again, I was a step closer to the epicentre - feeling the pulse but not yet in the heart of the action,” she recalled.

However, Jane had a driving ambition to be front and centre of the broadcasting action.

“I had been broadcasting racing for six years. I’d ticked the Cheltenham box; York is a regular in my diary, and Epsom is always blocked off for the Derby and the Oaks. But until last summer, the main event on racing’s summer calendar remained elusive,” said Jane.

She questioned if she was good enough, if she hadn’t got the call because of her accent, or she needed to know more.

“You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t ask yourself the questions,” she said. When the call came from the Ascot team to cover the Royal meeting, which took place last June, Jane said she made sure she wasn’t going to “come on for the run”, adding: “Broadcasting the world’s best racing to 180 countries comes with responsibility - it’s simple really - don’t miss.” The experience is one which Jane is likely to never forget.

“As you walk into the venue on those mornings, there is a hum about the place. Whether you are one of the 29 Michelin Star chefs on duty or the person handing over the jockeys’ silks for the day - there is a knowingness that whatever role you play in this production, it matters that you are there.

“In advance of the week, I told myself to absorb the experience. The hair and make-up before production meetings, the comradery on site because everyone behaves differently under pressure. And make no mistake - there is pressure.”

That Tuesday morning, at 10.55am Jane joined lead presenter Rosie Turner under the tree in the parade ring before the first race to preview the week.

“In the days that followed, we saw a £16,000 yearling beat the best milers in the Queen Anne. We saw a 9,000 guineas purchase down the big boys in the Windsor Castle Stakes. The Gosdens’ won the opening feature races across the first three days, capped by Trawlerman breaking a track record in the Gold Cup.

“One of the moments of the week from my perspective was watching Fethard trainer Joe Murphy, a man who has trained horses for over 50 years, proudly joining King Charles on the winners’ podium after his David looked Goliath in the eye and won.”

It was on the final day, when Jane was returning from an interview at the parade ring , that she experienced a moment she is unlikely to ever forget.

“I turned to make my way back to base only to be met by the Royal Guards who didn’t speak but gave me the eyes to stay put! Wondering what the fuss was about, I did a 360 scan only to spot the King and Queen waiting in the shadows to make the trophy presentation.” Another full circle moment. “The girl from Conna had sewn her thread into the fabric of Ascot. She sat within touching distance of the royal procession. She didn’t just feel the pulse, she was in the beating heart of the action. That’s what being even the smallest part of sport can do.

“Happenstance that once seemed otherworldly became real... more than real, it was normal,” Jane said.

“As I checked my Aer Lingus flight status, relieved I had enough time to make the gate, I wondered what my Granny would think. How she would feel. Would she be proud? Of course, she would. I got solemn comfort from knowing that this time, both Queens were watching from the same perspective.”