"I'd love to be champion jockey," says William Buick, who attracted many new fans with a series of excellent rides in major races last year, his victories including the Arlington Million and the St Leger. There is purpose, not wistfulness, in his voice as he declares his ambition, so what can explain the fact that he is 66-1 for a first title with one bookmaker and trading above 100-1 on Betfair?
The 22-year-old is aware of the betting market's opinion but denies any resentment at the lack of respect. Shrugging, he points out that he has yet to ride 100 winners in a single British season and would need around twice that to get his hands on the crown. "There's [the reigning champion] Paul Hanagan. Ryan Moore's going to be very hard to beat if he stays suspension- and injury-free.
"Richard Hughes said in the paper today that he's going to give it another go. There's a lot of people in front of me."
But Buick is now prepared to acknowledge that he should at least be in the hunt, whereas the general feeling last year was that he was focused on winning high-profile races and lacked the drive for a title challenge. If that was ever true, it is no longer.
"I'm going to give it a good go, I'm not going to be taking spare days off just to have an afternoon lunch somewhere. I think I've got good backing this year and I just hope to get off to a good start. You'll know by Royal Ascot where you are in the standings."
Buick's ambition has met with an early obstacle in the form of the prize money tariffs set by the Horsemen's Group, which specifies the minimum amounts of money racecourses should be offering for each type of race. His main employer, John Gosden, is among those happy to support the scheme and that has meant the jockey will not be at Doncaster, which he names as one of the tracks he rides best, for Saturday's Lincoln.
"The races were below tariff at Doncaster," he says, pointing out that Gosden has made entries only for the Lincoln and a maiden race. Taqleed, the trainer's principal hope in the big race, is owned by Hamdan al Maktoum, who retains his own jockey, so Buick will be at Kempton, where the prize money on offer has been deemed relatively respectable.
"A lot of [Gosden's] horses are owned by the Maktoums and they're not going to run in races that are below tariff. And that's going to affect me, that's going to affect John Gosden. But I totally agree with it. Something has to be done about it and that's the only way it's going to be done, by people not running their horses."
Two days into the new Flat season Buick has made a low-key start, finishing third at Leicester on Thursday on his only ride in Britain this year. But he is happy just to report himself in peak condition for the new term, something that could not be taken for granted when he was in hospital in December after two falls in Dubai on the same afternoon.
"I had a bad bang to the head, had bleeding on the brain and it was a lot worse than I had thought. I was in hospital for a week and it took me six weeks before I could get back to normal. And when I started riding, I wasn't riding fancied horses but still … I felt I was two steps behind everyone else. Then I got into it and had more rides and I'm back now where I want to be, ready to rock and roll."
Buick says Gosden, who turned 60 this week, is "a great man to work for" and their first year together was certainly fruitful. But in the immediate future the association may prevent the jockey from taking a fancied mount in the 2,000 Guineas on the David Simcock-trained Dream Ahead, which Buick rode to two Group One successes last year.
Gosden has several entries in the Guineas, including Treasury Devil, described by Buick as "a nice little horse. We'll see how he gets on in the Craven Stakes [at Newmarket on 14 April] and take it from there."
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