The fight goes on: Murphy and Buick trade blows as title heat is cranked up

At 12.20pm, when William Buick was walking towards Newbury's weighing room in an exquisite suit, he could have been eating breakfast in New York or enjoying some shut-eye in Toronto. Instead he was on home soil, immersed in a title tussle and aiming to reduce the deficit on the man whose arrival was imminent.

Oisin Murphy was not in a suit but similarly smart, his attire finished off with a cap that bore his initials. Only five minutes separated the two championship combatants. There was next to nothing between them when they later fought tooth and nail in one of Newbury's Saturday highlights.

There are now less than four weeks of racing until this duel is decided. Murphy claimed the crown two years ago and retained it last season. He knows how it feels to be champion. Buick does not, although his agent Tony Hind very much does.