'She's got a very good chance' - Billy Loughnane hoping first US trip will result in a breakthrough top-level winner

The rise and rise of Billy Loughnane continues on Saturday evening with a first ride in the US — and the talented young rider thinks he has “a very good chance” of landing a first top-level success.

Loughnane was speaking to the Racing Post for a major interview in Sunday’s newspaper in which he discusses his meteoric rise through the ranks, the next steps in his career and his gratitude towards the team around him — all while still seeming giddy at the recollection of his two winners at Royal Ascot this summer.

The 18-year-old describes the victories of Rashabar in the Coventry Stakes and Soprano in the Sandringham as the highlights of his year, and Soprano is now the reason for his trip across the Atlantic to take part in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland.

George Boughey’s three-year-old has gone to land the Group 3 Prix de Lieurey at Deauville since her Royal Ascot victory and her last outing came when third in the Group 1 Matron Stakes at Leopardstown behind Porta Fortuna and Fallen Angel.

“I think she's got a very good chance,” said Loughnane. “She ran a cracker in the Matron Stakes and if she can reproduce that run she'll go very close. Mawj made all in the race last year, so hopefully she can get a nice break and we'll give it a go.”

Soprano’s preparation in Kentucky has been overseen by Charles Eddery, who said: “This is the main target. We felt like she would take to American racing, and she likes warmer weather. One thing that is different here is the bell at the gate. I wanted to get her used to that, and she did very well [during schooling].”

Soprano is not the only horse trained in Europe lining up in the race, with trainer Francis Graffard saddling Candala as he seeks to enhance his season with another Grade 1 victory following the exploits of Goliath, Rouhiya and Vertical Blue this year. 

Billy Loughnane: bidding for a first Grade 1 winner in the US this weekendCredit: Edward Whitaker

Candala was third behind subsequent Group 1 winner Friendly Soul in the Group 2 Prix Alec Head at Deauville last time and Nemone Routh, racing manager in France for Candala's owner the Aga Khan, said: "Francis is out there and is very happy with the filly, who travelled over well. I think she has the ability and we think this is the right distance for her. She has the pedigree to stay further but I think she has a bit more speed than that would suggest."

The worry for Candala is the draw. While Loughnane can work from the middle on Soprano from stall five, the French raider goes from ten of ten and Routh added: “With a better draw we’d be fairly confident of a place but from the wide outside, things will need to fall into place.”

Mawj was the first horse trained outside the US to win the 1m1f contest for 12 years when scoring last year, with trainer Chad Brown being the dominant force in the race in recent seasons. Brown is aiming for a sixth victory in the race and saddles two runners this year – Oversubscribed and Grayosh, a Grade 2 winner at Saratoga on her most recent outing when running down She Feels Pretty in the final stages.

She Feel Pretty’s connections have opted for blinkers to try to turn around the form, with David Carroll, assistant to trainer Cherie DeVaux, saying: “We just feel like she has been waiting on horses. We like what we have seen from her in the morning with blinkers and hopefully it will translate to the afternoon.”

For Loughnane, meanwhile, his trip to the US is just the start of his travels through the coming months, which he hopes will include a top-level win regardless of what Soprano achieves at Keeneland.

"I'm off to Australia for the first time in December and January and then back for when the season starts," he explained. "There's still time to try to get the 100 up for the championship season in Britain, though, and I think they may be supplementing Believing for the Champions Sprint next weekend, which would be great. She'll have her day in the sun eventually.

"That's the ambition: a Group 1 winner. That's next on the list, and to beat this season's score numerically, with some more stakes winners and that one at the top level, hopefully."

Read more from Billy Loughnane in The Big Read, available in Sunday's newspaper or online for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday. Click here to sign up.

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