Billy Loughnane becomes Britain’s youngest jockey champion since 1923 — BBC Sport

Twenty-year-old Irish jockey Billy Loughnane received the British jockeys’ champion trophy in Ascot, United Kingdom. He became the youngest holder of the title in more than a century, since Charlie Elliott became champion in 1923, BBC Sport reports.

Victory over a five-time champion

Loughnane beat Oisin Murphy, who has won the championship five times, in the race for the title. This year, he recorded more than 220 victories. In May, the jockey won his first Classic race, the 2000 Guineas, and later added four more Group One race victories.

Loughnane made his racing debut about four years ago. His father, Mark Loughnane, works as a trainer, and the jockey himself said that as a child he travelled with his father to races in Wolverhampton every Saturday.

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The next goal is Richards’ record

Loughnane said that he loves his work and horse riding, which he had wanted to pursue all his life. He is now targeting Sir Gordon Richards’ record of 269 wins in flat races in a calendar year, set in 1947. The jockey also does not rule out competing for the championship title again in 2027.

Murphy praised the discipline, hard work and results of his younger rival. On the same day in Ascot, British-Norwegian jockey William Buick won the Champion Stakes on Ombudsman, the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Talk of New York and the Balmoral Handicap on Fifth Column, completing a treble at odds of 206/1.