William Buick looks to erase his Hong Kong near-miss after a memorable season

The rider will be chasing his first victory in the International Jockeys’ Championship at Happy Valley

William Buick, a Group 1 machine in 2025 / NEWMARKET

HAPPY VALLEY, Hong Kong (Special for Turf Diario).- After an exceptional year at the top level of world racing, William Buick will once again board a flight to Hong Kong with an unfinished ambition: to win the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship (IJC) for the first time, on December 10 at Happy Valley.

It will be his fifth appearance in the prestigious jockeys’ showdown, where luck has so far been elusive. His best return was a fifth-place finish in 2020, while he was sixth last year in an edition won by Mickael Barzalona. Still, Buick remains optimistic.

“I’ve never won it or even been on the podium, so it would be lovely to get that done. It’s a very tough competition where the draw plays a big part, but you have to be really sharp,” said the Norwegian-born, British-based rider.

He will face a stellar line-up including James McDonald, João Moreira, Christophe Lemaire, Zac Purton and possibly Ryan Moore, should he recover in time from injury.

Buick arrives in Hong Kong after what he himself considers one of the finest seasons of his career. Long-time first jockey for Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby, he began his 2025 campaign in Dubai with a statement performance aboard Believing (Mehmas) in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint at the Dubai World Cup Carnival.

Back in Europe, he wrote golden chapters in the British Classics, winning the G1 2000 Guineas with Ruling Court (Justify) – repeating his 2024 success with Notable Speech (Dubawi) – and capturing the G1 1000 Guineas for the first time with Desert Flower (Night of Thunder).

He then added a string of top-level victories, including the G1 Falmouth Stakes, the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup, his first-ever G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot with the stayer Trawlerman (Golden Horn), and two elite 10-furlong prizes: the G1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes and the G1 Juddmonte International, both aboard Ombudsman (Night of Thunder). The ultimate flourish came in the United States with his victory in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Mile on Notable Speech.

With those achievements, Buick is set to register the most lucrative season of his career in Britain, although he remains far from complacent.

“We won both Guineas early, then Ombudsman, Trawlerman and others came along… and finishing it off at the Breeders’ Cup was fantastic. But in this sport you always have to keep improving,” he reflected.

At 37, now a highly respected figure in the weighing room, Buick admits he rarely dwells on past glories: “Racing doesn’t give you time. I’m in Bahrain, then Hong Kong and after that Dubai. That’s how it works: when you win, you enjoy it, but you have to turn the page quickly.”

The IJC is his next major target. And this time, on the back of everything he has accomplished in 2025, the story might finally break his way.