'There’s only one McCoy' - Gina Mangan rides out with multiple champion as she plans for life without a claim

Gina Mangan is determined not to rest on her laurels after riding out her claim last month.

It has not always been the smoothest of roads for the 32-year-old, but she described it as a "massive weight off my shoulders" when Alioski scored at Ffos Las.

Although Mangan expressed her delight at riding out her 3lb claim, she knows the challenges ahead. She said: "We have to work harder. I might have to go into different yards and get more contacts, although I feel I’m pleasing the people I ride for at the moment. Between myself and my agent we’ll come up with a plan.

"So many people have helped me along the way and I doubt I’d have got this far without everyone around me. I was always told to surround myself with great people because good things would happen."

Mangan has ridden 28 winners in 2024, her best return, but she is keen to maintain her form between now and the end of the year.

"We’ve been busy, it’s been a great season," she added. "The momentum we gathered was great and it’ll be full on now until the end of the turf campaign."

Mangan recently rode out with Sir AP McCoy at Gary Brown’s yard in Wiltshire. She said: "We rode a bit of work together and it was great. I’ve never ridden out with him before, but he was a big influence on me in my earlier career. As a young teenager trying to get going in the sport, I idolised him and I thought he had such an amazing mindset. He’s obviously made of different stuff. There’s only one McCoy."

Gina Mangan: has enjoyed a strong 2024Credit: Alan Crowhurst

Mangan has had to deal with both mental and physical battles along the way.

A fall at David Evans’s yard in 2019 led to her dislocating both ankles and almost losing a foot, and she credits the Injured Jockeys Fund for their support during a lengthy spell on the sidelines that she understandably found hard to deal with.

She said: “Being on the sidelines is pretty painful in a mental way. You miss out on things and you’re not in the racing bubble. We have a responsibility to be up for the job, so when you know you’re not at that stage it’s very frustrating. You wish you could click your fingers and be there.

“Sometimes you can see the end of the road, but sometimes you can’t and I definitely couldn’t have done it without the IJF. There was a point where I was struggling. I thought I was superhuman, but it turns out you’re not and you need to take two steps back in order to go forward.

"My injury was not very promising in terms of walking, never mind riding, but I always try and look at the positives now. I’m where I want to be, being on the back of a horse is my happy place, and I’m a very lucky girl." 

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