IT will be a family affair at Royal Ascot this weekend as the Loughnane father-son duo of jockey Billy and trainer Mark team up in the Wokingham Stakes on the final day of the prestigious festival.
17-year-old Billy Loughnane has taken the horseracing world by storm in a year which he has already been declared champion all-weather apprentice.
The youngster has already had two rides at Ascot this week, finishing fourth in the Britannia Stakes on longshot Thunder Ball (66/1) before being run out of the Buckingham Palace Stakes on board Totally Charming (18/1).
But he has four more rides left at Ascot. He rides Polly Pott in the Sandringham Stakes (17:00) at 28/1 and Thunder Moor in the Palace Of Holyrood House Stakes (18:10) at 20/1, both on Friday afternoon.
Trainer Mark Loughnane will then leg up his boy Billy on Estacas in the Wokingham Stakes (17:00), an outside shot at 25/1. The favourite is Orazio (6/1) in a 28-runner race but given the season Billy has had, you would not put it past him to be in contention for a place.
Billy also rides in the final race of the meeting (18:10) on Estacas - a big outsider at 200/1 - for trainer David Bridgewater.
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