Already a record-breaker, is Billy Loughnane the future champion Flat jockey?
Billy Loughnane tells Lucy Elder about his hopes for 2026 and the feeling that comes with riding a big winner, in this exclusive article for H&H subscribers
Billy Loughnane knows exactly what he wants. The young talent, speaking on the cusp of his 20th birthday, has a crystal clear goal in his sights.
“I want to be champion jockey,” he tells H&H. “That’s the main thing; I won’t be happy until I’ve achieved that.”
Billy’s success has been meteoric since riding his first winner in November 2022, Swiss Rowe, trained by his father Mark. It is, he says, all he has ever wanted to do.
“Being a jockey has been it since day dot,” says Billy, whose idol growing up was 20-time champion jump jockey AP McCoy – although he’s always been drawn to the Flat.
“My dad trains. I’ve been brought up with horses my whole life, racehorses. I was on ponies pretty much from the beginning – I did some showjumping when I was younger – and then progressed onto racehorses. I’ve been riding out since I was 11.
“The showjumping I did was low level, just through my school showjumping team. I rode at Hickstead a couple of times, but just relatively small. I had a cool little pony called Dancer who I enjoyed playing around with.
“I always knew I wanted to be a jockey. I was just showjumping with time to kill before I was able to start pony racing, and then I stepped across.
“Pony racing was a really good foundation and gave me great experience of riding at a lot of tracks.”
That grounding served as a launchpad. Within 12 months of his first winner, he was named champion all-weather apprentice, became the youngest jockey in more than 60 years to ride in a British Classic, partnered more than 100 winners, and was crowned 2023 champion apprentice at Ascot on QIPCO British Champions Day.
And the milestones keep on coming. In 2024, he notched his first Royal Ascot winners and last year recorded his debut Group One success before going on to wave farewell to 2025 by setting a new record for the number of winners in a calendar year.
“That record wasn’t something that I set out to achieve specifically last year, but I had a great season that finished off well,” he says.
“I just wanted to try and ride as many winners as possible last year. I’d obviously been in the country for the majority of the year – January to January – which probably isn’t as common for a lot of the bigger jockeys. So I’ve had a lot more rides, and then towards the end certain goals started popping up in terms of the numerical number of winners.”
Billy Loughnane: ‘I like the adrenaline rush’
So what is it about this sport and working with these remarkable animals each day that drives him?
“I like the adrenaline rush. Big winners on big days, and seeing how good the horses can be,” says Billy.
He reflects on how he handles the pressure that comes with his position. He’s reached stratospheric heights and broken records all while still a teenager, he’s at the top of the game and with that, of course, comes expectations.
“I think first of all, it’s a feeling of relief to ride big winners, there’s obviously a lot of pressure on big days, and it’s just a proper buzz,” he says.
“A lot of it’s just wanting the horse to win, more than anything. Pressure is probably not quite the word for it… it’s a feeling of relief when the horse has won.”
Billy has top agent Tony Hind in his corner – “he’s the best agent in the country” – and support from yards including his father’s, Charlie Appleby and George Boughey.
“He [George] has looked after me since I was claiming. I’m lucky to have someone like him behind me,” says Billy. “Soprano winning at Royal Ascot was our first big winner together, I got a real kick out of that.”
Charlie Appleby, too, has been behind some of Billy’s biggest successes, including his first top-flight victory.
“Rebel’s Romance in Germany last year was my first Group One winner, he’s probably top of the pecking order,” says Billy, reflecting on the biggest moments in his career so far.
“That was a buzz. He’s a very good horse, it was my first time riding him and he’s been around the block, so he was pretty push-button.”
Aiming for a century-old record
Last year, Billy Loughnane finished second to Oisin Murphy in the Flat jockeys’ championship and has his sights on going one better this year. Oisin was 24 when he was crowned champion for the first time in 2019; should Billy succeed, he would be the youngest champion in more than 100 years – a record currently held by the late Sir Gordon Richards, who won his first championship in 1925 at the age of 21.
Hard-working, talented, professional are the words frequently used to describe Billy – and he shares the same advice to any youngsters sharing his dream.
“Keep your head down, work hard, and you’ll get there,” says Billy, who makes time for our chat having just landed back from the Middle East – before war broke out – and on his way to ride eight at Southwell that night.
“Usually I fly in and out, but this year I’ve been based over there for January and February, which has been a bit different, but I’ve enjoyed it,” he says.
“I’ve been in Dubai for the past couple of months, riding in the Middle East. I was in Saudi Arabia last weekend, Bahrain… I’ve been riding in a lot of countries around there, but I’m ready to get going over here.”
And so he has, this month backing up a treble at Kempton on his 20th birthday with a five-timer at Wolverhampton, as his laser focus turns in earnest to his main goal for 2026.
“My aim this year is to try and be champion jockey,” he says. “Oisin has had a tight grip on it the past few years, and I need to ride a lot more winners than I did last year to get close to him. I’ll be trying to ride as many winners as possible to give that a kick.”
From Billy the kid, to perhaps Billy the champion in 2026 – the sky is the limit for this shooting star.
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.