William James "Billy" Lee (born July 1986) is a
Group 1 Group 1 may refer to:
* Alkali metal, a chemical element classification for Alkali metal
* Group 1 (racing), a historic (until 1981) classification for Touring car racing, applied to standard touring cars. Comparable to modern FIA Group N
* Group On ...
winning Irish
jockey who competes in
flat racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...
.
Background
Lee grew up on a farm in
Ballingarry, County Limerick
Ballingarry () is a village in County Limerick, Ireland. It lies between Rathkeale and Kilmallock on the R518 road (Ireland), R518 road. The population was 521 at the 2016 census. Ballingarry had a vital weaving and linen industry until the Gre ...
, where the family kept horses and his mother trained
point-to-pointers. His sisters also went into training horses. Lee competed in pony racing from the age of nine and also entered the Castletown Donkey Derby on several occasions, coming second in 1994.
A video of the race was uploaded onto
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
in 2011 and had been viewed more than 1.3 million times by 2022. Lee started riding out for
Tommy Stack
Tommy Stack (born 15 November 1945 in Moyvane, County Kerry, Ireland) is a former National Hunt racing jockey and trainer. As a jockey, he is probably best known for piloting Red Rum to a third Grand National victory. Stack was National Hunt Cham ...
in school holidays and was apprenticed to the yard when he left school in 2002.
[
]
Career
Lee rode his first winner aged sixteen when Zeno, trained by Stack, won at Sligo in August 2002. Before concentrating on the flat, he occasionally rode over hurdles
Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...
for Stack, winning a Listed race at Haydock
Haydock is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 11,416 Haydock's historic area covers the Haydock electoral ward and a section of the Blackbrook ward.
Haydo ...
on Wanango in 2005.Park Express Stakes
The Park Express Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Ireland open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) at the Curragh in March. ...
at the Curragh
The Curragh ( ; ga, An Currach ) is a flat open plain of almost of common land in County Kildare. This area is well known for Irish horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is located on the edge of Kildare town, beside the ...
in March 2010. In 2013, he struck up a successful partnership with the Willie McCreery trained Fiesolana, winning the Group 3 Brownstown Stakes at Fairyhouse
Fairyhouse Racecourse is a horse racing venue in the Republic of Ireland. It is situated in the parish of Ratoath in County Meath, on the R155 regional road, off the N3. It hosted its first race in 1848 and since 1870 has been the home of ...
, the Group 3 Fairy Bridge Stakes
The Fairy Bridge Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Ireland open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Tipperary over a distance of 7 furlongs and 100 yards (1,500 metres), an ...
at Tipperary
Tipperary is the name of:
Places
*County Tipperary, a county in Ireland
**North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh
**South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel
*Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...
and the Group 2 Challenge Stakes at Newmarket. The following season Fiesolana provided Lee with his first Group 1 victory when she won the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown
Leopardstown () is a suburb of Dublin in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, within the traditional County Dublin, Ireland. Located at the foot of the Dublin Mountains, it is a residential suburb with institutional lands and a large racecourse. It is ...
.[
Lee's most successful year was 2022, when he rode 97 winners in Ireland and came a close second to ]Colin Keane
Colin Keane (born 12 September 1994) is an Irish jockey who competes in flat racing. He was Irish flat racing Champion Jockey in 2017, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Keane was born in County Meath and rode his first race winner at Dundalk in December ...
in the Irish championship. His seven Group wins in 2022 included two at the highest level: the Pretty Polly Stakes on La Petite Coco and the Matron Stakes on Pearls Galore, both trained by Paddy Twomey.[
]
Personal life
Lee married Catriona McNabb in November 2020.
Major wins
Ireland
* Flying Five Stakes
The Flying Five Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 5 furlongs (1,006 metres), and it is scheduled t ...
- (1) ''Moss Tucker (2023) ''
* Matron Stakes - (2) - ''Fiesolana (2014)'', ''Pearls Galore (2022)''
* Pretty Polly Stakes - (1) - '' La Petite Coco (2022)
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
* Prix Jacques Le Marois - (1) - ''Romanised
Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
(2019)''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Billy
1986 births
Living people
Irish jockeys
Sportspeople from County Limerick
Irish Internet celebrities