Champion apprentice Billy Loughnane given 12-day totting up ban for careless riding offences across six-month spell

Champion apprentice Billy Loughnane has been given a 17-day ban, four of them deferred, after a series of breaches for careless riding. 

Loughnane received 12 days for a series of offences within a six-month period and another five after a further incident at Chelmsford on November 21, when he was deemed to have caused a rival horse to stumble in a mile handicap.

Three days before the Chelmsford incident he was disciplined for careless riding at Newcastle and given a three-day ban, meaning he had racked up more than 20 days of suspensions for interference in the previous six months, triggering a hearing.

It is the first time the BHA's disciplinary panel has dished out a totting-up ban for careless riding since Marco Ghiani was suspended in 2021. Loughnane's ban was reduced by two days from the entry point of 14 days due to his having taken 486 rides – described as a high number by the panel – in the six-month rolling period. His 11 breaches in that period amount to one in every 44 rides.

Loughnane is considered one of the future stars of the weighing room, having lifted the apprentice jockey championship just under a year on from his breakthrough success. He has ridden 127 winners in 2023, with only Rossa Ryan, Oisin Murphy and William Buick riding more.

Panel chair Sarah Crowther said: "The BHA suggests that the fact that the breaches occurred across the entirety of the six-month rolling period is somehow a mitigatory factor. I struggle to see how this really mitigates the offending for myself. The purpose of the rule is to promote the safety and welfare of runners and riders and to ensure that racing is fair and that all participants can have a full and unimpeded run. 

"Riders who repeatedly interfere with the progress of other horses, whether carelessly or otherwise, undermine those objectives and where a clear pattern of poor behaviour has been established, such as here, action needs to be taken to encourage the rider to change that behaviour.

"My first instinct was, therefore, that the proposed sanction was too generous, however, I have reflected on the totality of the offending and riding and consider that in view of Mr Loughnane’s cooperation and frank admissions, the modest reduction on the entry point can be justified on this occasion. It is unlikely that he will be the beneficiary of such a reduction should he continue this pattern of offending."

Elsewhere, Oisin Orr faces a 26-day ban, with eight days deferred, for his fifth whip offence within six months. Four of his breaches related to the number of times he used the whip, while the other was due to the location of the strike.

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