Of course, the Flat Jockeys’ Championship is decided on the total number of winners ridden, not the total amount of prize money accrued, during the ‘season’. Until 2015, winners ridden during the whole of the traditional Flat racing season on turf, between late March or early April and early November, counted towards the jockeys’ title, regardless of whether they were achieved on turf or all-weather surfaces. However, increasingly worried by the punishing schedule faced by Flat jockeys, particularly those in pursuit of the title, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) effectively shortened the season by approximately eight weeks.
Nowadays, the Flat Jockeys’ Championship is decided over the period between the Guineas Festival at Newmarket in early May and British Champions’ Day at Ascot in October, when the trophy is presented to the winning jockey. Indeed, on October 21, 2023, William Buick was crowned Champion Jockey for the second year running, having ridden 135 winners from 616 rides, at a strike rate of 22%. Buick, 35, was Champion Apprentice, alongside David Probert, as long ago as 2008, but has been retained by Goldolphin, under the auspices of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai, since January, 2015 and is currently first jockey to Charlie Appleby at Moulton Paddocks in Newmarket.
It would be fair to say that Buick won his second jockeys’ title fairly comfortably, with Oisin Murphy (106), Rossa Ryan (104) and Tom Marquand (102) the only other jockeys to reach three figures during the championship period. However, in terms of prize money, his seasonal tally of £3.8 million was some way behind the £4 million and £4.4 million accrued by Marquand and Murphy respectively and even further behind the £5.8 million racked up by Lanfranco ‘Frankie’ Dettori in his ‘farewell’ season on British soil. Top of the heap, through, was Ryan Moore, who rode 46 winners, but accumulated an astonishing £7.4 million in total prize money.