Billy Loughnane will be crowned Britain's champion Flat jockey for the first time at Ascot on Saturday, realising a childhood dream in the manner of the gunslinger he is named after. Dubbed 'Billy The Kid' since he burst on the scene as a 16-year-old, the 20-year-old has shot to stardom at the sport's end-of-season jamboree, Qatar Racing British Champions' Day.
Loughnane is horse racing's own Luke Littler. 'Luke The Nuke' became the youngest world darts champion aged just 17, while 'Billy The Kid' will become the youngest Flat jockey champion since Charlie Elliott, 19, in 1923.
Similarities with Luke Littler
The similarities between the year-older Loughnane and the darts prodigy are striking. Littler was throwing darts at a board when he was a toddler – Loughnane went to school dressed as a jockey when he was six years old when the kids were asked to turn up as who they hoped to be in the future.
Born in Ireland, Billy moved to the UK with his racehorse trainer dad Mark, mum Clare and brother Jack in 2011, living in Staffordshire before later moving to Kidderminster, Worcs. Five years ago, Loughnane started his GCSE year at school in Kidderminster knowing exactly what he wanted to do with his life once the exams were over.
The boy, whose first Christmas present was a rocking horse and second a pony, had been going to the races with his dad to his local track in Wolverhampton since the age of six. He rode work on the gallops while he was still at school, and having graduated from the pony racing circuit, he was given his first ride at Newcastle in October 2022.
Rapid rise to the top
“If someone told me that day I would be champion jockey four years later, I would have said, ‘You’re absolutely crazy. What have you been drinking?’” he says. “I wouldn’t have even thought about it to be honest. I wanted to achieve champion apprentice and I thought that would come in maybe my second or third year. I didn’t think it would snowball into what it’s become.”
Loughnane was crowned champion apprentice in 2023 and has continued to rack up the accomplishments, riding his first Royal Ascot winner in 2024, his first Group 1 winner in 2025 and in May this year, his first Classic. Victory in the 2,000 Guineas on Bow Echo, trained by his boss and mentor George Boughey, provided ‘the best buzz I’ve had on a racecourse’. The partnership went on to sweep the mile championship with successes in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.
At the same time he was piling the pressure on Oisin Murphy’s bid for a sixth jockeys’ championship, eventually pulling away with plenty to spare in the official contest, which ends this weekend. It will have taken just 48 months from the day he rode his first winner at Wolverhampton in November 2022, on a horse trained by his father, to reach the pinnacle of his sport.
Records in sight
His stellar rise has put him on a pathway to joining Sir Gordon Richards, Lester Piggott, Pat Eddery and Frankie Dettori as household names – and he has some of their records in his sights. Before 2026 is out, 26-time champion Richards’ all-time record of 269 winners, which has stood since 1947, could be his next target.
“It’s in my sights,” he admits. “I am going to take the rest of this month and November and then assess in December if I think it’s realistically possible. I’m not blinkers-on full-blasting at the moment, but I am going to keep riding every day possible and give it my best shot.”
His successes are a testament to his fitness regime – at 5ft 11ins he is one of the tallest in the weighing room. Loughnane is grounded, doesn’t drink and is a keen padel player away from the racecourse. Unusually, he also makes notes of every horse he rides.
“When I moved to Newmarket I was sitting on a lot of horses and I didn’t want to forget what horse I’d ridden,” he explains. “If it had gone well [on the gallops], I wanted to ride it at the races, so I’d keep a track of everything I rode in the mornings and the afternoons. I have a WhatsApp group on my phone which has just me in it, so I send WhatsApps to myself and then search for the horse’s name when I want to look one up.”
Celebration and future ambitions
Loughnane will celebrate his achievement at a special dinner, arranged by mother Clare, with his family and his girlfriend – whom he prefers to keep out of the limelight – and others who have contributed to his success, after racing at Ascot.
“It’s been an extraordinary couple of years,” he reflects. “I’ve been lucky I’ve been able to team up with a lot of good trainers that have propelled me forward. Four years ago when I was going up to Newcastle for my first ride, the aim was then just to have a few winners. From what it’s turned into, it’s been amazing. I love my job. I love riding horses. It’s the only thing I’ve wanted to do. It’s amazing that I’ve found something that is a passion to do as a job as well. When you get big success it’s even better.”
His jockey idol, Sir AP McCoy, won 20 jumps championships in a row and just like McCoy and ‘Luke the Nuke’ in the darting world, Loughnane has the potential to be equally dominant in the years ahead.
