Rising talent Billy Loughnane has achieved a significant milestone by becoming the first jockey to reach 100 Flat wins in 2025. At just 19 years old, Loughnane made a name for himself on the British racing scene when he entered the field at 16.
The son of renowned Kidderminster trainer Mark Loughnane, Billy emerged as the champion apprentice in his debut full season as a jockey, securing an impressive 130 victories. In the previous year, he clinched his initial triumphs at Royal Ascot and concluded with a total of 162 wins, placing fourth in the Flat jockeys’ championship, trailing Oisin Murphy.
Commencing his 2025 journey with the title of All-Weather champion jockey, Loughnane continued his rapid ascension despite facing an 11-day suspension early in the turf season. Surpassing Murphy with nine wins in the past two weeks, he now leads as the top-winning rider of the year.
On a recent Friday, Loughnane marked his 100th win by guiding Gewan, trained by Andrew Balding, to victory in a 7f novices race for two-year-olds at Newbury. His rides this year have accumulated over £1.3 million in prize money.
While currently positioned fourth in the jockeys’ standings with 38 wins, Loughnane is aiming to secure the title, determined by victories between May 3 and October 18. He trails behind Murphy (61), William Buick (44), and Rossa Ryan (41) in the rankings.
Expressing optimism for his future, Loughnane stated, “I think he’s going to improve massively. He’s a big boy and he actually did everything very smoothly. He jumped nice and rolled forward, I would have liked a lead a little longer into the race but he was going so well and he was still very green off the bridle, probably a little bit greener than I expected being a breeze-up horse. I think he’s talented and hopefully he’s a horse on the up.”
As the primary jockey for Newmarket trainer George Boughey, Loughnane recently secured his first Group win of the year at York and has achieved success with four wins out of six rides for Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby.
Reflecting on his latest accomplishment, Loughnane expressed his delight, saying, “I’m delighted to get my hundredth winner up this calendar year. Some of the highlights are being champion all-weather jockey and some nice winners at some of the bigger meetings like Newmarket on Dance To The Music for Mr Appleby and some nice horses. Hopefully, we can try and knock a few more up.”
