Buick to Ride Without A Fight in Melbourne Cup

Newly crowned champion flat jockey William Buick is set to return to Australia after being snapped up to ride British contender Without A Fight  in next month's Lexus Melbourne Cup (G1).

Joint-trainers Simon and Ed Crisford have pulled off a coup to get Buick following a parting of ways between the 5-year-old's regular rider Andrea Atzeni and owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum.

With British and Irish-based jockeys unable to compete in the Melbourne Cup for the last two years due to COVID-19 restrictions, Buick's last ride in the Flemington spectacular came in 2019 when aboard 2018 winner Cross Counter , who finished eighth having been ridden to victory by Kerrin McEvoy the year before.

With Cross Counter's trainer Charlie Appleby not represented this year, Buick was free to ride and the Crisford team moved to secure his services.

"William is one of the best jockeys in the world with an international record that speaks for itself and when he was available to ride the horse, we were delighted to book him," said Ed Crisford.

Buick has had four rides in the Melbourne Cup, with his best finish a sixth place on Lost In The Moment  in 2011. He will take over from Atzeni, who has ridden Without A Fight in all but two of his 17 starts.

Winner of the John Smiths Silver Cup Stakes (G3) at York in early July, Without A Fight is a general 14-1 shot for the Nov. 1 Melbourne Cup and completed his big-race preparation with a second in a listed race at Newmarket last month before making the trip to Australia.

"The horse traveled down there well and will be in quarantine for another week or so," Crisford said. "He's in good form and we're looking forward to him running.

"He had a break over the summer and came back at Newmarket and we were very happy with the run. He's had a nice prep; he's fit and well and goes into the race with every chance."

Crisford added that Jadoomi , who was found to have knocked a joint after finishing third in the Oct. 15 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1) at Ascot, was likely to be put away for the year rather than go to the Breeders' Cup.

The 4-year-old son of Holy Roman Emperor 's last two starts previous to his defeat at Ascot included front running scores in the William Hill Celebration Mile Stakes (G2) at Goodwood and the Clipper Logistics Boomerang Mile (G2) at Leopardstown.