Buick appeals six-week ban

William Buick lodged an appeal against the severity of a six-week ban after pleading guilty to reckless riding aboard the sixth home Pakistan Star in the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin.

The 30-year-old angled his mount out at an acute angle when not clear of the Andre Fabre-trained race favourite Waldgeist, ridden by Pierre-Charles Boudot, in Sunday’s contest.

The market leader and Red Verdon were severely checked in the incident, which compromised their chances of victory.

Buick was suspended for six weeks and fined HK$20,000 (R36,800).

In their report, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s stewards said: “In assessing the penalty, the stewards took into consideration Buick’s guilty plea but also his actions had seriously compromised the safety and welfare of those horses and riders to his outside and had significantly impacted upon the chances of both Waldgeist and Red Verdon in this race.

“It’s the second occasion Buick has been charged with reckless riding in a Group 1, coincidentally with Boudot and Fabre again the victims.

Buick received a 30-day ban by French stewards following his ride aboard Highlands Queen in the Group 1 Prix de Diane at Chantilly in June 2016.

Back then he was adjudged to have caused the Fabre-trained filly Armande to knuckle with Boudot hitting the turf 250m from the finish.

French stewards banned Buick for an automatic 15 days for causing Boudot’s fall and gave the Norwegian-born rider an extra 15 days for behaving offensively towards officials.

Buick rode nine Group 1 winners across seven countries during 2018, most notably the Derby aboard Masar in June.

His suspension will start on 17 December, running through to 28 January.

The only other suspension from Hong Kong’s international meeting also came in the Vase with Zac Purton hit with a three-meeting ban for his ride aboard the winner Exultant.

Purton crossed runners before the first turn when insufficiently clear of eventual third Eziyra, causing three other runners (Salouen, Red Verdon and Latrobe) to be steadied.

The winning rider’s suspension runs from 19 December until 27 December.

In other news Frankie Dettori has been recognised for his achievements on the track this year after being crowned the 2018 Longines World’s Best Jockey for the second time in his career.

The three-times champion jockey has enjoyed another hugely-successful year and picked up the award – which he also won in 2015 – at a presentation event in Hong Kong on Friday.

After winning eight of the top 100 Grade 1 races the competition is calculated on, Dettori topped the standings with 128 points to join Ryan Moore – victorious in both 2014 and 2016 – as a dual winner.

Finishing second was Oisin Murphy with 114 points, while Moore was a further two points adrift in third.

Dettori said: “I’ve had a phenomenal season. To have these kind of horses in the same year is phenomenal. A lot of thanks goes to the owners and John Gosden, who is an amazing trainer and we have done so well together.

“John is a genius of a trainer and what I have achieved this year is really down to him.

“There are lot of excellent jockeys out there, especially the young generation. There is not much room for error and racing in every angle of the sport really has gone up a few notches.

“Like any sport you have to be on your A-game, as it is very tough – but competition makes the sport even be er.

“Looking ahead to 2019, the ever-popular Italian is unsurprisingly excited about continuing his relationship with dual Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine Enable.

He added: “I am looking for-ward to having Enable for another year to showcase around the world and try and win a third Arc which has never been done before.

“Next year is another new page. I will try and win every big race and try and become the best jockey in the world again.”

– racingpost.com

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.