Born in County Tipperary on March 2, 2006, Billy Loughnane is the son of Daniel Mark Loughnane, better known as Mark, a predominantly Flat trainer based at Rock Farm, near Kidderminster, Worcestershire. Nicknamed ‘Billy The Kid’, Loughnane took his first ride under Rules on Starfighter, trained by his father, in a mile-and-a-quarter handicap at Newcastle on October 24, 2022. Just over a month later, he rode his first winner, Swiss Rowe, also trained by Mark Loughnane, in a seven-furlong handicap at Wolverhampton on November and has never really looked back.
Loughnane has since gone on to be British All-Weather Champion Apprentice twice, in 2022/23 and 2023/24, and British All-Weather Champion Jockey once, in 2024/25. Remarkably, he rode out his ‘claim’ on Lambert, trained by George Boughey, in a novice stakes race at Kempton on September 8, 2023, less than a year after taking his first ride. Indeed, he followed his six wins in late 2022 with another 130 in 2023, as a whole, including 60 in the ‘window’ between May and October on which the Apprentice Jockeys Championship is decided, which was more than enough to take the apprentices’ title, too, well ahead of his nearest rival, defending champion Benoit de la Sayette.
In his first season as a fully-fledged professional, Loughnane continued in similar form in 2024, increasing his annual tally to 172 winners. He rode his first Pattern race winner of any description, Queues Likely, trained by Stan Moore, in the Group 3 Karin Baronin von Ullmann – Schwarzgold-Rennen at Cologne, Germany on April 21 and his first on British soil, Rashabar, trained by Brian Meehan, in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes at Ascot on June 18.
In 2025, Loughnane rode an eye-watering 222 winners, taking the Annual Flat Jockeys Championship, which is decided over the full 12 months, and setting a twenty-first record for the number of winners in a calendar year. He equalled the previous record, 221 winners, set by Kieren Fallon in 2003, on First Greyed, trained by Thomas Faulkner, at Wolverhampton on December 30 and, with just three races of the year remaining, went one better when making all on odds-on favourite Invited, trained by George Boughey, in a mile handicap at Lingfield on New Year’s Eve. Earlier in the year, Loughnane had been crowned British All-Weather Champion Jockey, recorded his first Group 1 win, on Rebel’s Romance, trained by Charlie Appleby, in the Grosser Preis von Berlin at Hoppengarten, Germany on August 10 and finished runner-up, behind Oisin Murphy, in the British Flat Jockeys’ Championship.