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 (Reuters) - ⁠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.

(Reporting by Nicole Fernandes in Toronto)

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