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Vanessa Ryle: Where is the love for brilliant William Buick?

Vanessa Ryle
11 August 2022
4:00 min read

Vanessa says Buick is a rare and brilliant talent

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Jockey Wiliam Buick's relentless pursuit of excellence was on show again at Saratoga last weekend. But are racing fans in danger of under-appreciating him? asks Vanessa Ryle.

"In a modern world that seems to favour extroverts over introverts, with those who shout the loudest often the most visible, Buick goes against the grain..."

Are we at risk of taking William Buick for granted? Champion apprentice, soon to be the Champion jockey, Classics in England, Ireland and France, Group 1s across the globe, the top job with john Gosden followed by securing arguably the most envied jockey position in the world as number one for Godolphin, where he continues his upward trajectory, and all before he hits 35.

True professional in his prime

Buick has always seemed wise beyond his years and, at the age of 35, he is surely now hitting the sweet spot in his life on and off the racecourse.

Professionally he has what is widely considered the best job in flat racing which takes him to Group 1s all over the world while still enabling him to challenge for an overdue first champion title in Britain. On a personal note, Buick recently married his long-term partner and has a little boy to keep him busy when not riding.

He is the ultimate professional when at the track, there to do a job for those who employ him, and very few outside distractions seem to matter. He does that job as well as anyone else riding in the world right now and his statistics showcase just that.

A 26% strike-rate this year is higher than it has ever been in Buick's riding career thus far and it is rare that he finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time during a race. From the biggest stage to the smaller tracks, mistakes appear few and far between.

His work ethic was recently shown to the extreme when he rode the big race double in Saratoga last weekend for Charlie Appleby on two horses with remarkably similar European profiles.

Buick rode Nations Pride to Saratoga Derby victory on Saturday night before following up with the Saratoga Oaks aboard the well-backed With The Moonlight on Sunday night.

William Buick.jpg

A cool £650,000 worth of prize money later, he jumped on a flight home which landed at 10am UK time on Monday, before heading up to Wolverhampton for three afternoon rides for a total prize money fund of £12,000.

Buick didn't ride a winner and headed off to Lingfield the following day where he rode three seconds from four rides.

Buick does his talking on the track

Yet it seems that Buick is yet to really ignite racing enthusiasts fan status in the way that those before him in similar roles have managed to cultivate - Frankie Dettori, Kieren Fallon and Johnny Murtagh to name but three.

Buick falls into the same category as those names in terms of achievements in the saddle at this stage of their career, if not more, yet it doesn't seem as though the Norwegian-born jockey has captured the hearts of regular racing fans despite his ability, work ethic, accuracy, openness with the media and relentless pursuit of winners.

He has chosen not to engage with any sort of PR push. No Twitter handle nor Instagram presence, Buick remains in the old school mould of very much letting his ability on the track do the talking, keeping a lower profile than many others.

Does William's quiet way mean his talent isn't as widely appreciated as it would be if he was a more outgoing character?

In a modern world that seems to favour extroverts over introverts, with those who shout the loudest often the most visible, Buick goes against the grain of not only some other jockeys but also other top-class sportsmen and women who spend almost as much time advertising as achieving.

They say the emptiest tin rattles the loudest, well Buick's tin is very full and he doesn't seem to feel the need to let it make any more noise than the bare minimum, but don't let the lack of noise lull you into thinking Buick is anything other than a rare and brilliant talent in and out of the saddle.

He is an intelligent jockey competing on the biggest stage, with a stock price that continues to rise at a much faster pace than many others in the weighing room. Just don't expect him to shout about it any time soon.

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Prices quoted in copy are correct at time of publication but liable to change.

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