Buick is delighted to continue route to top via Redcar

After winning feature races on three successive days, including the Ladbrokes St Leger, racing's man of the moment William Buick returned to earth yesterday at a rain-lashed Redcar.

Watched by a few hundred spectators huddled against the elements, this was racing at its most raw – far removed from the packed enclosures at Doncaster and Longchamp, the most prestigious of France's racecourses, that saluted the 22-year-old's brilliance in the saddle.

Yet Buick, like all Flat jockeys, knows that it is the unheralded race days that can be the most instructive in a horse's development.

It was at Redcar last October that a previously unrated colt called Arctic Cosmos made his second racecourse appearance, finishing fourth out of 17 in a one-mile maiden race won by Hambleton trainer Kevin Ryan's Medicinal Compound.

Yet, while Ryan's horse has not progressed – he was 14th out of 15 runners last time out at Beverley – Arctic Cosmos was, 11 months later, winning the St Leger, the world's oldest Classic, at enticing odds of 12-1 and carrying his young rider's reputation to new heights of brilliance.

It is why the softly-spoken jockey had no qualms about travelling to the unfashionable track yesterday for two rides which saw Mon Visage finish second in the opener before Tomodachi, a 5-4 favourite, was a slightly disappointing third in the penultimate race, although it was her first run for 11 months.

"Business is good, so why not continue?" said Buck before racing.

Why not?

Tipped by many to be a future champion, this is a jockey riding on the crest of the proverbial wave after recording five Group One triumphs in five different countries in the past year.

Mentored by South Yorkshire trainer Dave Griffiths at the Northern Racing College, Buick's amazing run started on Friday when Samuel won the Doncaster Cup – the jockey admits to relishing the challenge of long-distance races – and ended on Sunday afternoon in Paris when Duncan won Longchamp's valuable Prix Foy.

This was a very different ride to the hold-up tactics deployed so effectively on Samuel and Arctic Cosmos; Buick led from the front to confirm Duncan's place in next month's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Europe's richest and most prestigious race. His quick-thinking allows him to apply differing tactics, an invaluable skill.

Like his stablemate Arctic Cosmos, one of Duncan's formative performances was at Pontefract two years ago when he won his first race. Who present believed that they were witnessing a genuine Arc contender?

Both Samuel and Duncan are owned by the West Sussex-based Normandie Stud whose manager, Richard Brunger, said: "To get two Group Two winners in the space of a few days is something else – unbelievable."

Yet, while the stud calculated the future stallion potential of their two winners, Gosden was flying to the Keeneland Sales in Kentucky, America, to eye up some potential new horses.

And, while he relaxed on the plane, young Buick was whizzing past Doncaster – scene of his first Classic triumph – en route to Redcar.

He was then returning to Gosden's Newmarket stables last night before riding out this morning. He then heads to Lingfield for today's routine all-weather card where he partners Johnny Castle for his boss.

The trainer has no qualms, however, about being away. One reason, he told the Yorkshire Post, that Buick has had so much success is because he is a brilliant communicator.

Gosden illustrated this point by saying how "this level-headed young man" had taken it upon himself to get to personally know every member of the stable staff because he recognised that the horses would not have a chance without their hard work. "And not many jockeys appreciate that," added the trainer as he looked ahead to future successes with the jockey that many regard as Frankie Dettori's successor.

It is also why unfashionable races at the likes of Redcar and Pontefract matter as much to William Buick's future career as the major meetings, and will continue to do so.