Queensland Horse Of The Year Buffering is being prepared for another Spring Carnival Campaign with the a third Group 1 Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley on October 2 firmly on the agenda.
Buffering will be aiming to win another G1 Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley in the Spring. Photo by Race Horse Photos Australia.
Buffering won his first Moir Stakes in 2012 when it was a 1200m Group 2 event then backed up the next year for a second to smart mare Samaready when it was promoted to Group1 status.
The four time Group 1 winner went back to Moonee Valley in 2014 to claim his second Moir Stakes when he beat Lankan Rupee and Rebel Dane and will be lining up again this year in the Group 1 $450,000 City Jeep Moir Stakes which has been reduced to 1000m for the first time since 2006.
Buffering was forced to missed the Queensland Winter Carnival this year because of a minor leg injury but trainer Robert Heathcote said that the rising eight year was coming along nicely as he prepares for the Spring.
“He is coming along for another campaign,” Heathcote told AAP.
“They have put the Moir back to 1000m this year, which probably isn’t ideal for me because there will be a few whippets in there that might make it hard for Buffering to lead.”
“But he’s over his issue and I still think he’s got a bit to offer.”
Buffering is the only Queensland trained horse to have won a Group 1 in the current racing season and is odds on to win his fourth Queensland Horse Of The Year title.
“People seem to forget Buffering was the only Queensland horse to win a Group One race this season. It was in the Moir Stakes when he beat Lankan Rupee and his other spring runs were very good,” Heathcote said.
For so long Buffering was rated a Group 1 bride’s maid after being so consistent at the top level without a win and his inability to win a major feature on his home track in Brisbane.
But all that changed in the Spring of 2013 when the tough little sprinter scored a hat trick of Group 1 wins with victories in the $1m Manikato Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley, the $1m VRC Sprint Classic (1200m) at Flemington and in the $500,000 Crown Perth – Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) at Ascot in Perth.
Buffering then collected his fourth Group 1 trophy with a win in last year’s Moir Stakes.
Even though Buffering has failed to win a Group 1 at Eagle Farm or Doomben, some of his bravest performances have been at his home track including a second with 58kg to Midsummer Music in the $1m AAMI Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm during the 2012 Queensland Winter Carnival and followed that up the next year when second to Linton with 58kg again.
From forty-six starts, Buffering has earned over $4.8 million for his connections from sixteen wins, nine seconds and eight thirds.
