I have no doubt William Buick would have beaten Murphy to 2020 title, says agent

Oisin Murphy would have lost the 2020 jockeys' title "without a shadow of a doubt" if he had self-isolated like he should have, William Buick's agent said on Friday.

Buick finished eight winners behind Murphy, who had 11 winners in September 2020 when he should have been quarantining on his return from Greece.

But Tony Hind, who narrowly failed to make Buick champion jockey in each of the last two years, says he has no interest in getting the 2020 championship "on a technicality" were Murphy to lose those winners.

Murphy deceived the BHA as to his whereabouts so he could resume riding on September 13, a sequence of events that resulted in an 11-month suspension being handed to Murphy by an independent judicial panel, with a further three months added on for two breaches of the rules on alcohol.

Oisin Murphy: rode 11 winners in a 14-day period when he should have been quarantiningCredit: Edward Whitaker

"It's not for me to tell anyone what should be done," said Hind. "I was going up against a jockey who had a licence and as far as I was concerned Oisin was still available to ride horses. That was what I had to aim at and I didn't pull it off.

"I am not a person who gets frustrated or is jealous. Do I want to win it on a technicality? No, not really. I'm a very strong-minded person, hence I go for championships."

While Hind refuses to dwell on what might have been in 2020, when Buick finished eight behind Murphy – or indeed in 2021 when the margin was just two – he does take issue with the argument made by defence counsel Rory Mac Neice during the hearing on Tuesday that "Mr Murphy may have won the championship anyway" in the event he had quarantined for 14 days on his return from Mykonos.

Hind said: "If he had self-isolated, we would have won it without a shadow of a doubt.

"I don't know what Rory Mac Neice is talking about. If he wants to come and sit with me and watch how I work to make a champion jockey, he'll get an eye-opener.

William Buick and Oisin Murphy have been close title rivals in each of the last two yearsCredit: Edward Whitaker

"I totally disagree with his idea of who's to say Oisin might not still have been champion. No he wouldn't have been, it's as simple as that."

Hind, who has previously been the driving force behind Ryan Moore, Richard Hughes and Jim Crowley securing the Flat riders' crown in Britain, said that while the simple maths of taking 11 wins away from Murphy would have made Buick champion by three, the margin would probably have been greater.

He said: "Out of the 70 rides that he took, how many would William have taken if he wasn't available?

William Buick odds-on to land his first jockeys' title after Murphy ban

"Everyone wants to use William Buick when you're going for a title and out of those 70 horses, he could have ridden at least 20 of them, because he and Oisin were getting all the rides. Those 20 rides could have brought an extra four or five winners."

The BHA considered putting disqualification of those 11 horses on the charge sheet ahead of the hearing but decided that Murphy's presence had not materially affected the integrity of each result.

Buick has maintained a dignified silence since Murphy was handed bans that will keep him from re-applying for his licence until February 2023 and is the red-hot favourite to become champion for the first time this year.

William Buick: will 'be going everywhere' to try to become champion jockey in 2022Credit: Edward Whitaker

"Let's hope this year it will be plain sailing and I can do it for William," said Hind.

"We'll be working extremely hard from the first day and going everywhere. There won't be a day off where we don't have to [take one]."

Adding a personal note, the ever-competitive Hind said: "I wanted Oisin to ride so I could beat him fair and square, but that's just me.

"I can have that go in 2023. I really want to go another head-to-head with him. It's like boxing, where as soon as you win the title you want a rematch."

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Oisin Murphy's rise and fall: from boy wonder to Classic winner to being 'out of control'

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