Pinatubo's jockey William Buick hungry for 2000 Guineas success on red hot favourite

Buick and boss Charlie Appleby team up with Pinatubo in the QIPCO 2,000 Guineas on June 6, just days after horse racing restarts at tracks in Great Britain

William Buick is “hungrier and more focused” as he bids to erase the memory of a frustrating 2019 aboard Pinatubo in the QIPCO 2,000 Guineas.

Buick and boss Charlie Appleby could do little wrong two summers ago, uniting to lift the Investec Derby aboard Masar among a host of big race triumphs.

But the jockey was forced to miss 12 weeks of last year’s campaign - he was sidelined with a head injury between May and August - and is keen to get this season off to a flying start when champion two-year-old Pinatubo bids to justify his status as the odds-on favourite for the colts’ Classic at Newmarket on Saturday week.

“When you’re a jockey - or any other athlete - when you're injured and missing out, it is always frustrating,” said Buick, whose lay-off ruled him out of partnering the Charlie Appleby trainee on his first four starts, including a three-and-a-quarter-length margin in the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot last June.

“But seeing horses perform how they did - for example, at Royal Ascot - it was great to see.

“Of course, you wish you were the jockey that was on them on those days, but I wasn’t. I was injured, and it was great to see them win.

“Those sort of things make you a little hungrier and a little bit more focused on getting back to riding them.”

But Buick was on board for Pinatubo’s stunning nine-length supremacy in the Group 1 National Stakes at the Curragh last September.

“It was one of those performances that you very rarely see in a Group 1,” added the 31-year-old, also in the saddle when the son of Shamardal completed an unbeaten campaign with a sixth score in the top-level Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket the following month.

Pinatubo is the 6-1 market leader for the Derby on July 4, and Appleby believes the colt’s laid-back demeanour is an asset for an attempt at a mile and a half.

“Watching him as an individual, he’s got the right mindset to be able to do it,” said the trainer.

“He switches off so well.”