William Buick five behind Oisin Murphy but title bid hit by three withdrawals

William Buick's day began in perfect fashion as he took the opening 5f nursery to close the gap on Oisin Murphy to five in the jockeys' championship but the day quickly turned when three of his mounts were remarkably withdrawn before the start.

Buick, who took the opener aboard George Boughey's two-year-old Pocket The Profit in commanding fashion, was sent off the 100-30 favourite to quickly double up in the 1m4f handicap, but the Roger Charlton-trained Amalfi Bay flopped, finishing eighth of nine behind Thunder Ahead and Jason Watson.

Buick's fortunes took a turn for the worse when the Roger Varian-trained Poet, the least fancied of his eight rides on the card, bolted on the way to the start and was subsequently withdrawn before the 6f nursery won by the Clive Cox-trained Mohi.

The day, which had started so promisingly for Buick, was to get more frustrating still as Twilight Secret, the jockey's fourth ride of the day, was forced to be withdrawn before the start on veterinary grounds.

Oisin Murphy v William Buick: what Monday means in the race to be champion

And in a remarkable hour and for what should have been Buick's fifth ride of the afternoon, Infrared for Martyn Meade was also withdrawn on veterinary advice, 12 minutes before the start of the 6f novice stakes.

The Meade-trained two-year-old was trading as the odds-on favourite at the time of the withdrawal and the race instead went to the Richard Hannon-trained Thunder Queen and Rossa Ryan.

The flurry of withdrawals meant that Buick had only five rides on the card instead of his full book of eight, one fewer than Oisin Murphy's six at Kempton on Monday evening.

Buick and Boughey were later denied a double when 9-4 favourite Pretty Sweet chased home the Marco Botti-trained Tricolore, who provided Hollie Doyle with a winner on her 25th birthday in the 1m1½f handicap.

The jockey was also out of luck when odds-on favourite Toromona was second in the 1m½f maiden.

Results, replays and analysis

Read these next:

Champions Day: big guns on course for Ascot but Poetic Flare out of QEII

Stradivarius to be left in Long Distance Cup on Champions Day at Ascot

Starman retired after setback rules him out of Champions Sprint

For all our exclusive free bet offers and must-have daily promotions click the free bets button or go to racingpost.com/freebets