Newly-crown champion jockey William Buick’s success saw ex-trainer Ian Balding win a 100/1 bet placed 21 years ago, landing £5,000 in winnings.
Balding made the verbal bet with Peter Jones, then Tote chairman, on a 13-year Buick one day becoming champion jockey having been impressed with what he saw in the young rider.
Having come close in each of the past couple of seasons, Buick was finally crowned champion jockey on Saturday at Ascot on British Champions Day, meaning that Balding’s £50 wager became a winner.
“I Have Finally Had a Successful Bet”
The bet has been honoured by Tote and Balding has pledged to donate the £5,000 in winnings to the Injured Jockeys’ Fund.
The charity provides support for jockeys past or present who are injured, unable to ride or generally in need and was set up in 1964, following the injuries suffered by Tim Brookshaw and Paddy Farrell in that year’s Grand National which resulted in severe paralysis.
As quoted by BBC Sport, Balding said: “I am absolutely thrilled he has fulfilled the potential I always knew he had…I have finally had a successful bet!”
Who is William Buick?
Buick was born in Oslo, Norway, and his Scottish-born father is a legendary jockey in his own right having been crowned champion jockey eight times in Scandinavia. His mother, Maria, is also a showjumper and dressage rider, so it was only natural that William would soon find himself in the saddle.
He is fluent in Norwegian, Danish, Germany, and English and would regularly spend summer holidays in the UK during which time he rode for trainers such as Andrew Balding, Marcus Tregoning and Reg Hollinshead.
Buick is a former champion apprentice jockey, sharing the title with David Probert in 2008, and won the Lester Award for Apprentice Jockey of the Year in 2007 and 2008.
This season, Buick has dominated the championship as he went into the final day at Ascot with 157 winners – a staggering 67 clear of Hollie Doyle and Tom Marquand in second.
On finally winning the illustrious title, Buick was quoted as saying by Sporting Life: “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.”
Having ridden more than 1,000 winners in his career, Buick has no shortage of trophies in his cabinet and you suspect that there will be many more to come before he calls time on his career.
