William Buick crowned Champion Jockey on Champions Day at Ascot

By Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Sat October 15, 2022 · 2y ago

William Buick realised a long-held ambition at Ascot on Saturday as he was crowned Champion Jockey for the first time.

The 34-year-old has dominated the championship from the outset and began the final day of the season on 157 winners, 67 clear of his closest challengers Hollie Doyle and Tom Marquand.

Buick shared the Champion Apprentice title in 2008 with David Probert and has since enjoyed huge success both at home and overseas, latterly as retained rider for Godolphin since 2015.

His highlights this year include Royal Ascot success on Coroebus in the St James’s Palace Stakes as well as a plethora of big-race wins across Europe and North America.

Buick, who finished runner-up in 2015, 2020 and 2021, said: “18-year-old me would say what’s taken you so long!

“It is great and personally it’s something I’ve really wanted to achieve for quite a long time and obviously it’s taken me a few years, but it’s fantastic.

“My father was an eight-time Champion Jockey in Scandinavia so it’s great to be able to achieve it and I feel I’ve achieved it in the way that I would like to do it – to balance it with the big races, the big meetings, my main employer Godolphin, making sure that’s at the forefront of my focus.

“It’s very satisfying and, when every jockey starts out, that’s what you want to achieve – you want to win the Derby and you want to become Champion Jockey.”

William Buick with his son before he collected his champion jockey trophy

He added: “You can never expect it to go as it has. You can only hope and work towards it, but you can never expect it, so it’s great and there’s a lot of people involved in it all.

“It’s hard work, it’s every day and every race and everything that comes with it, but I’ve loved every minute of it. When it’s going well and you’re riding winners, riding nice horses, you’re at the big meetings, when it goes like that it’s great, there is no better feeling. So, although it is hard work at times, you wouldn’t change it.”

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