Buffering Gets BTC Cup Lead Up

Star Queensland sprinter Buffering will run in tomorrow’s rescheduled Victory Stakes at Eagle Farm after wet weather caused Saturday’s meeting at the Brisbane racecourse to be abandoned.

The gelding’s trainer Robert Heathcote was elated at news of the rescheduling after fears the race would be scrapped, meaning his stable star would have gone into the Group 1 BTC Cup on May 12 without a race under his belt.

“It’s fantastic news his race will be on Wednesday,” Heathcote said.

“Had we lost the Victory Stakes, Buffering would have gone into the BTC Cup without having a run for almost six weeks.”

Renamed as the Coca-Cola Amatil Weight for Age, the prize pool has been reduced from $175,000 to $100,000 and will no longer carry Group 2 status.

The changes mean Buffering will not be able to claim a second straight Victory Stakes title but it will be a much needed hit-out for the Mossman gelding ahead of the Brisbane Winter Carnival.

Buffering will start as odds-on favourite in the six-horse field that has experienced minor alterations including the loss of Tony Gollan-trained Spirit Of Boom and the inclusion of Starstreamed and Money Saver.

With stars Black Caviar and Hay List missing from this year’s BTC Cup, he has a chance to avenge his 2011 third placing at Doomben on Saturday week.

The four-year-old has produced results in 2012 that suggest he is ready for a big Brisbane campaign, placing three times from three starts in high quality Group 1 events in Melbourne behind the likes of Black Caviar, Hay List and Foxwedge.

The rescheduled Victory Stakes will run as the fifth race at Eagle Farm on Wednesday on a card that also includes the rescheduled Group 3 Gunsynd Classic.

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