William Buick banned after Windsor inquiry
Star jockey William Buick has been banned for eight days after he was blamed for causing another horse to stumble. The Godolphin stable jockey is rarely in trouble with the stewards but he was called to inquiry on Monday after an incident during the fifth race on the Windsor card.
Buick rode the winner of the third race when the Charlie Appleby-trained Castlemont captured the 1m2f maiden race at odds of 15-8. In race five he was riding the John & Thady Gosden-trained Sunshine Star, a 5-2 chance for the 1m2f fillies’ handicap. The pair finished second, beaten three quarters of a length behind the Oisin Murphy-ridden Dream Camp, trained by Andrew Balding.
But the stewards quizzed Buick about his riding of his filly with the Racing Post close-up commenting stating,
“Prominent, waiting for room and lost position over 2f out, switched left and hampered rival over 1f out, ran on inside final furlong, no extra towards finish, did well in the circumstances.”The analysis said Sunshine Star
“could have won on another day”, adding,
“She’s well up to winning something similar”.
The inquiry considered the incident of interference around the one furlong pole which involved Sunshine Star, the unplaced Crystal Pier, ridden by Rossa Ryan. Saffie Osborne was also interviewed but found not to be involved.
The report concluded:
“Buick was suspended for 8 days for careless riding as he angled his mount left-handed to continue his run when insufficiently clear of CRYSTAL PIER (IRE), causing Ryan to clip heels and stumble badly.”
The suspension will run from August 3 to 10 inclusive and fortunately for Buick falls either side of Glorious Goodwood and the York Ebor Festival.
He would miss the Shergar Cup meeting at Ascot had he been involved.
