Teenage jockey sensation Billy Loughnane will ride for two of Australia’s most high-profile stables during the European winter as he strives to gain international experience and advance his ambitions by riding on the tough Sydney circuit.
Loughnane, 18, was champion apprentice in Britain last year with 60 wins and is currently fifth in the premiership (which runs from May to October) with 45 wins, just four behind the fourth in the standings Tom Marquand who has already made a good name for himself in Australia.
Britain’s champion jockey Oisin Murphy is another rider who benefited greatly from riding in Australia early in his career when linking up with trainer Danny O’Brien. Loughnane can expect to come up against a hot line-up featuring champion James McDonald, Nash Rawiller, Jason Collett, Tyler Schiller, Tommy Berry, Kerrin McEvoy, Zac Lloyd and Rachel King.
The rider is seen as the most exciting young talent in Britain and snagged his first Royal Ascot wins in June 2024 when the big outsider Rashabar won the G2 Coventry Stakes in the famous ‘Robert Sangster’ silks of Manton Thoroughbreds, and then another long-shot Soprano won the Sandringham Handicap.
“I’m going to Australia for two months this winter, I’ll be going to Gai Waterhouse (and Adrian Bott) and to John O’Shea as well, because I want to gain that different kind of experience I’ll get there and hone my skills a bit more,” he told Idol Horse as he returned to scale after riding a double at Thirsk.
Loughnane rode the Waterhouse-owned Asian Daze to victory at Newmarket on July 13, prompting the trainer to repost and comment on the video footage on X (formerly Twitter).
The jockey was a popular draw for the busy Friday afternoon crowd in North Yorkshire, just a week into the school summer holidays, and he obliged his young fans with an autograph or two between races
He ended the day with two wins and two narrow seconds – having presented his placed mounts with every chance – from five rides, and showed why he is one of the most sought-after jockeys around.
His two wins came for the burgeoning George Boughey stable that has provided him with the bulk of his wins so far.
Loughnane was born in Ireland but has spent most of his life in England. His father, Mark Loughnane, is a trainer based at Rock Farm Stables in Worcestershire and his son first sat on a racehorse at age two, and had his first canter at age 10 before getting into pony racing.
He notched six wins in 2022 after debuting on October 22 of that year; his first winner was his father’s Swiss Rowe at Wolverhampton a month later. His career skyrocketed and by April 2023 he was crowned the winter ‘All-Weather Champion Apprentice,’ a title he won again in 2023-24. His tally for the calendar year in 2023 was an impressive 130 and he already has 82 on the board this year.
His previous overseas riding experience was a three-week spell of trackwork in Florida in February 2023 and since then his career has continued to climb a steep trajectory.
“Things are going great, I’ve moved to a new agent, Tony Hind, and things are going brilliantly,” he said cheerfully.
And his voice had a tone of assured near-certainty when he outlined his career goals in just four words.
“Champion jockey one day,” he said.
Few would argue against him right now and a spell in Sydney will do his aspirations no harm at all.
