JC / Railbird

Rising Stars

Watch this Kid

Rising rider William Buick made quite an impression over the weekend:

In the Foy it was the jockey who caught the eye as much as his mount. When a sportsman’s eye is in, it’s in, and young William Buick and his boss John Gosden, triumphant in the St Leger at Doncaster on Saturday with Arctic Cosmos, rounded off a dream weekend by taking the older horse prep with Duncan, the outsider in a field of six.

Buick, 22, is one of the weighing room’s outstanding emerging talents and for the second day in succession showed all the qualities that prompted Gosden to fast-track him to the big time. On Arctic Cosmos, he had ridden a finely-judged race from off a demanding pace to notch his first Classic; yesterday he controlled the game for most of the way.

Buick insists he’s not the new Frankie Dettori, but:

With good looks, youth and talent on his side, Buick’s rise has gathered momentum. Twelve months ago he landed a valuable but relatively insignificant sales race at Doncaster. Now he has five Group Ones and the prospect of two tasty mounts on the massive Breeders’ Cup stage in November with Arctic Cosmos (Turf) and Debussy (Classic).

He’s going to be a star at Churchill Downs during Breeders’ Cup week.