Racing has feel-good story with Billy Lee a deserving champion jockey

Deserve is a luxury concept in racing. Plenty of shady individuals have got a lot more than they should reasonably be entitled to. Almost as rare in professional sport is a general sense of goodwill towards individual good fortune. But racing has just such a feelgood story with Billy Lee about to be crowned champion jockey.

The title is in the bag. Lee is uncatchable with a 19-winner lead over his nearest rival Colin Keane, 98 to 79. The campaign ends next weekend. It’s an outcome that has seemed fated, another wishy-washy concept usually useful only to those scrambling for a narrative structure but in this case apt.

Another ‘Billy’ was crowned champion jockey in Britain last weekend. At 20, Billy Loughnane is the youngest British champion in over a century. Already earning comparisons to Lester Piggott and Frankie Dettori, Loughnane enjoys a rapidly growing popular profile and promises to be the face of the sport for years to come.

In contrast, Billy Lee is 40, and almost an epitome of understatement. He has never won a classic race. His Group One tally is four. Loughnane already has one more than that. Lee will be the oldest new champion jockey in Ireland in almost half a century. Tommy Murphy was 42 when successful in 1978.

But while the youngster deservedly revels in his new status, there are no offers about which of the titles will be more professionally satisfying. Loughnane could be champion for years to come. Lee has succeeded through years of persistence, professionalism and repeatedly putting himself in a position to avail of opportunity.

Runner-up three times previously, including when beaten by just three winners by Keane in 2022, Lee’s chance looked to have gone. Without one of the major jobs to call on, the fact he regularly got close to championship success was a remarkable feat of improvisation, reflective of a willingness to ride for most anyone and everyone.

When Keane landed the Juddmonte job last year, it opened a chink of light only for Lee’s chances to be scuppered by a broken collarbone at the height of the summer. It wasn’t injury but suspension that had previously compromised his chances. They are the twin threats to any championship challenge as this season has underlined once again.

Dylan Browne McMonagle was eventually crowned champion in 2025 and started very short odds to repeat this year. With the unparalleled numerical strength in depth of Joseph O’Brien’s yard behind him, as well as momentum from big-race successes such as Ethical Diamond in the Breeders’ Cup, it wasn’t hard to see the bookies’ reasoning.

But injury meant he missed the opening weeks of the campaign. Lee and Keane cut out an impressive tempo at the top of the table, although when Browne McMonagle returned it only looked a matter of time before they were reeled in. Sure enough, the latter remorselessly closed only to pick up a significant injury towards the end of August.

Combined with Keane’s Juddmonte commitments repeatedly taking him to ride abroad, it was finally Lee’s turn to put his stamp on the championship. Paddy Twomey and Willie McCreery have supplied the backbone of his winners, but he has ridden for more than 50 trainers in all. He is also the only rider in the country to have had more than 600 mounts. There have been just two short suspensions.

The title will reflect consistency, application and professionalism, virtues that mightn’t smack of glamour but underpin a singularly demanding job. Lee is the professional’s professional. He hasn’t been appointed to one of racing’s top jobs but there can hardly be anyone who doesn’t believe he wouldn’t measure up to such a position. This title reflects a lifetime’s hard work.

Just how hard will really resonate with those who have also had to battle the scales themselves. Physically Lee is no featherweight, but the job demands he weighs in daily as one. As a younger man, it looked like he would lose the fight when he started riding over hurdles. He says his weight eventually settled, a bland phrase that hardly reflects the effort of will behind it.

Such are the tiny margins that the 3lb increase in minimum weights on the flat introduced by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board in 2021 has proved transformative. The life of a jockey means light is always right. But there are degrees and the IHRB move reflected the reality of general societal trends.

“What helped me was the weights going up. That allowed me a bit more comfortable, 100 per cent,” he commented. “There weren’t many taller than me in the weigh-room when I started. But now, they’re all towering over me.”

Lee goes to Dundalk this evening for five rides with four different trainers. He’s got a first “century” of winners in his sights. There’s a trip next week to the Breeders’ Cup to look forward to. He will continue riding on the all-weather during the winter, doing what he’s always done, but this time as champion jockey.

“The hunger to do it was always there and for it to be finally happening is special. It’ll be lovely to have on the CV, and it’ll be there forever, thank God,” he says.

Something for the Weekend

An unsettled weather outlook for the Bank Holiday weekend means it could pay to check tonight’s Dundalk action where Henry De Bromhead’s Premier View (6.45) can make a successful debut on the artificial surface. He is on a hat-trick after a pair of wins at Down Royal last month and can exploit a low draw.

Billy Lee will at Doncaster tomorrow for a Listed contest on the Goffs Million runner-up Hi Corbett Court. He faces a task though against Begal Tiger (2.05) who won by 12 lengths on soft ground at Naas 12 days ago and should be right at home in testing conditions.