Billy Loughnane

Billy Loughnane says that he will be "pushing to be back as soon as I can" after a thumb injury suffered at Nottingham has left him facing a spell on the sidelines. The 17-year-old has established himself as one of the rising stars of the weighing room since bursting onto the scene over the winter and is bearing down on a century of winners having continued to have success throughout the summer. However, his quest for triple figures has been halted following the injury sustained in a stalls incident aboard...

We're starting to feel a little long in the tooth in this corner. The racing equivalent to the observation about policemen looking young these days now applies to the weighing-room, and on Saturday one young gun after another came out with a performance that would entitle them to be considered the next big thing.  Benoit de la Sayette has already achieved plenty in his nascent career. Now 20, he had his first ride in November 2020 and became the first apprentice attached to John Gosden's stable in almost 30 years. ...

They're calling him Billy The Kid. He only got his licence in October but when he left the all-weather circuit last month, for a three-week stint in Florida, he was Britain's leading jockey with 23 wins from 98 mounts in January. And, for another week anyway, he's just 16 years old. It's so extraordinary that Billy Loughnane has even been featured on the evening news by the BBC, a gratifying departure from the indifference of mainstream media to all but the least flattering tales of the Turf. On the face...