Horse racing-Loughnane becomes Britain's youngest champion jockey since 1923
FILE PHOTO: Horse Racing - Royal Ascot 2026 - Ascot Racecourse, Ascot, Britain - June 16, 2026 Billy Loughnane riding Bow Echo celebrates after winning the St James's Palace Stakes REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo
Oct 17 : Ireland's Billy Loughnane was crowned Britain's champion jockey at Ascot on Saturday, making the 20-year-old the youngest rider to win the title in more than a century.
Loughnane beat fellow Irishman and five-time champion Oisin Murphy, 31, to become the youngest winner since Charlie Elliott in 1923.
“Nearly four years ago when I was going up to Newcastle for my first ride, my aim then was just to have a few winners really," Loughnane said on a Great British Racing media call earlier this week.
"If anyone had said that day that four years later I’d be where I am now I’d have said they were absolutely crazy."
The 20-year-old, who has recorded more than 220 victories this year, will now turn his sights to Gordon Richards' 1947 record of 269 winners in a calendar year.
