Billy The Kid: Teenage protege Loughnane, 17, on his rapid rise to fame as he guns for the apprentice Flat jockey crown

• Loughnane is almost certain to be crowned champion apprentice Flat jockey
• His six wins in the final few weeks of 2022 have been followed by 97 in 2023
• Mail Sport’s new WhatsApp Channel: Get the breaking news and exclusives here 

This time last year, teenager Billy Loughnane had just left school and had not even had a ride but two weeks on Saturday, he is almost certain to be crowned champion apprentice Flat jockey.

The achievement might not have been possible if Billy had not done what he was told by his mum, Clare.

Loughnane, 17, said: ‘My mum told me if I didn’t pass my GCSEs I wouldn’t be getting my jockey licence. Mum doesn’t say things she doesn’t mean so I was pretty certain I had to pass them — and I made sure I passed them all.’

What Loughnane, whose father Mark trains near Kidderminster, achieved in the classroom has since been outstripped on the racetrack.

When he receives his champion apprentice trophy on Qipco British Champions day at Ascot — the jockey inevitably labelled Billy The Kid is 14 wins clear of nearest pursuer and defending champion Benoit De La Sayette — Loughnane will share the stage with Frankie Dettori.

Teenager Billy Loughnane is almost certain to be crowned champion apprentice Flat jockey

It will not be lost on some that one of the greatest jockeys the sport has ever seen will take his last rides alongside a teenage protege who eventually may fill the void left by the 52-year-old Italian.

Just look at what Loughnane has done since his first ride, when still 16, on unplaced Starfighter at Newcastle on October 24 last year.

His six wins in the final few weeks of 2022 have been followed by 97 in 2023. He was leading apprentice during the Winter AllWeather season, had eight rides at Royal Ascot and last Sunday won the Apprentice Derby at Epsom.

Loughnane, a champion pony racing rider last year, also had his name linked to another legendary jockey when he rode unplaced Sweet Harmony in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket in May. It meant Billy was the youngest jockey to ride in a British Classic since Lester Piggott in 1951.

Loughnane’s idol growing up was 2015 champion apprentice Tom Marquand, who was also 16 when he had his first rides. Billy has quickly had to adapt to the fact that the jockeys he looked up to while at school are now opponents.

He said: ‘I am used to it now but at the start it was a bit surreal and I was a little over awed sitting next to them in the Weighing Room. It has become a reality quickly.

Now I am on the same playing field and they are my competitors.’

Loughnane is reluctant to agree he is a natural in the saddle but there was never any question where his future lay growing up at his father’s stable.

He said: ‘I wouldn’t say it has come easy, there has been a lot of graft but since I was born I always said I wanted to be a jockey. There are pictures of me on rock ing horses and Shetland ponies, showjumping and racehorses from there.

‘I sat on my first racehorse when I was about four years old. I would get on them after people had ridden them on the gallops and walk them back home. I cantered my first racehorse when I was 10.

‘Before school I had two racing ponies and two racehorses to ride out. I used to start very early with a head torch on, going up the gallop about four in the morning before school.’

Loughnane has a ride in all nine races at Wolverhampton on Saturday evening, with the trainers he is riding for including George Boughey, David O’Meara and his father. They are among the 135 different trainers to have given him mounts this year.

Loughnane’s six wins in the final few weeks of 2022 have been followed by 97 in 2023

Loughnane, whose younger brother Jack has ambitions to be a footballer as he currently makes his mark as a youth team player for Kidderminster Harriers, is determined to build on his impressive foundations. He added: ‘I am staying around for the winter. I will try my best to give the All-Weather champion jockey title a crack.

‘When you are young you always want to be champion jockey one day. It won’t be in the next 12 months but that is the main goal one day down the line. Next year I’d hope to ride a pattern race winner and just keep riding as many winners as possible.’

A major success away from the track for Loughnane was when he passed his driving test in May. It meant he no longer had to rely on lifts or his dad to chauffeur him around.

‘I passed first time,’ Loughnane said. ‘I can’t say I am an amazing driver but there are some who are worse than me.’ It has been quite some year for Billy Loughnane.

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