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George Boughey has confirmed that teenage sensation Billy Loughnane will be his first-string jockey this season.

The teenage wonderkid has gone from strength to strength since bursting onto the scene in the winter of 2022, enjoying Royal Ascot success on Rashabar in the Coventry Stakes and riding 162 winner's last season.

Loughnane signed off a successful short spell in Australia by steering Yorkshire to victory at Wyong in New South Wales over the weekend and it didn't take the youngster long to make an impact back on home shores, with George Boughey's Stage Winner readily landing prohibitive odds of 2/9 to score at Lingfield on Monday afternoon.

"I enjoyed every minute of it out there, I had a great time, and I learned a lot," said Loughnane, speaking on Sky Sports Racing about his stint in Australia. "Riding work in the mornings, I learned loads, especially with the way they do everything to the times and the way they train two-year-olds out there and gate speed, I learned a lot in that respect.

"Getting into position quickly is quite key over there, they jump and are sharp away from the gates and very much into stride a hundred yards into the race, whereas over here, especially on the turf, you can find your time a little bit more and get a position more easily.

"There, you've got to be very sharp and aware of what's going on around you."

The eighteen-year-old will now look forward to an exciting season back in the UK, as he hopes to push himself in this year's jockeys' championship on the back of being confirmed number one rider for trainer George Boughey.

Loughnane said: "It's very exciting and I'm very lucky to be riding for George. We've got a really great batch of two-year-olds turning three coming this season and again it looks like we've got some nice yearlings stepping forward. It's definitely going to be a good year.

"I love working with George, I've been with him now since I've been claiming, he's supported me a lot through the past two years, and I'll definitely be trying to pay him back.

"I've got a lot of goals for this year that I'll be disappointed if I don't tick off. I've got a lot of goals to get done.

"I'll definitely be going for it, it's going to be very tough to be able to get up there with the numbers of winners, but I'm definitely keen to look at it.

"I want to try to beat my numerical number again from last year and try and get some group success along the way as well.

"There's not as much racing every day in Australia, so I had a little bit more time to myself, recharge the batteries a little bit and in the gym every day, so I'm fitter and ready to take on a big season."

On the prospect of securing Loughnane as his stable jockey, Boughey, who has recently purchased a pre-training base in Newmarket to add to an expanding operation, said: "Billy rode a lot more winners than anyone else for us last year and will ride first-choice for us this year.

"There are owners who will want their jockeys to ride their horses, but William (Buick) was becoming harder to get hold of last year and will continue to ride for us when he can. We have lots of meetings now and Billy will get first preference of where he wants to go, Tony Hind (Billy Loughnane's agent) and I work closely together.

"Billy is a great guy who is so easy to deal with and I just hope we can find him that Group 1 horse to take him to the next level.

"He's very much at the forefront of our plans this year and he's a huge part of our team."