Hawk Fits the Bill for Banned Buick
It has certainly been an eventful fortnight for Godolphin’s number one UK rider, William Buick. The former Champion Apprentice is currently commencing the longest ban of his career to date – following a most out of character incident in France – but he at least signed off in style with victory in the weekend’s big race.
The cause of all the trouble was an incident in last week’s Prix de Diane at Chantilly which resulted in Armande falling and depositing her jockey Pierre-Charles Boudet into the French turf. Thankfully both horse and jockey returned unscathed but an inquiry into the incident was inevitably called.
Having reviewed the action, the French stewards determined it was Buick aboard Highlands Queen who was to blame, with the filly being demoted from eighth to last and Buick handed a 15 day suspension. And that would have been the end of the matter if only William could have bitten his tongue. Instead Buick pointed to each of the stewards in turn and repeated the word, “corrupt”. If the officials didn’t much like his ride in the race, they really didn’t like this reaction, and his 15 day ban quickly became 30.
A subsequent appeal against the decision bore no fruit and Buick commences his ban on 3rd July. The timing could certainly have been better for William as he will now miss Newmarket’s July meeting, Glorious Goodwood, the Irish Oaks and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
What will Buick miss?
With the prospect of such a prolonged spell on the side-lines looming, Saturday’s Coral Eclipse at Sandown no doubt took on a little bit more significance than usual for the Norwegian born jockey. His mount for the 1m2f showpiece, which sees one of the first clashes of the season between the classic generation and their elders, was the three year old Godolphin runner Hawkbill, who arrived at the track seeking a six timer.
Having scored at Listed and Group 3 level on his two most recent starts, this represented a significant rise in class for the son of Kitten’s Joy, but he proved more than up to the task. It looked for a moment that Buick would have to make do with second, as Aidan O’Briens French 2000 Guineas winner, The Gurkha, moved ominously upsides. It was Hawkbill though who showed the greater resolution and stayed on best to the line for a famous and timely success.
This run puts Hawkbill not far off the top of the pile in the three year old colts division, and given the rate at which he is progressing, targets such as the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe may not be out of the question.
There is always something to look forward to in the world of horse racing and this week is no exception. The three day July Festival kicks off on Thursday at Newmarket, peaking on Saturday afternoon with the latest edition of one of the seasons top sprint contests; the July Cup. Meanwhile over at York on Saturday we have the 2016 John Smiths Cup, which is invariably one of the most popular betting handicaps of the season.
