ROB'S SHOUT - AN INTERRUPTED BUILDUP, BUT WHEN IT MATTERED MOST 'BUFF' WAS SIMPLY AWESOME
By Robert Heathcote | Thursday, May 3, 2012
Robert Heathcote is the leading racehorse trainer in Brisbane. 'Rob's Shout' - the personal blog of the multi-premiership and Group 1 winning trainer will appear every Thursday on HRO.
With the knowledge that I was going into the races last Saturday with a pretty strong hand, I had an air of confidence about me that Buffering would successfully defend his Group 2 Victory Stakes win from last year. The rains held off on Friday, although they were forecast, and Saturdays forecast was also a bit grim but I kept my fingers crossed the rains would miss us!
I went to bed Friday night after one final look at the weather radar, (I find I have been doing that a fair bit this past five months). I had about ten horses scheduled to race and I fancied a few of them on a reasonable track!
Well, it’s history now what happened on Saturday. It rained … and rained … and rained and yes, the races were called off.
I had already scratched half of my runners before the stewards made the call on the race day, so I did manage to get most of them worked. It was another tough, long miserable wet morning for the staff as they waded through the morning wet through to the bones.
When the call came through that the races were off, Bill Shuck was great. He called me and said he will leave the track open and I can work the horses who had not worked that morning which included Buffering and Trump. All my staff had gone home so I called Melissa, who gladly said she would come back in to ride a few, and young Ryan Hurdle was already back in bed. He 'enthusiastically' agreed to get up and help us get them worked.
The news that discussions were under way to maybe transfer the feature races through to the following Wednesday made it essential that the horses, which included Buffering and Trump, did their work on the Saturday morning.
Of course it was still raining so a huge thanks to my staff including Mikey and Josh for copping another soaking for the benefit of the horses and connections.
I decided to take Bill Shuck up on his offer to maybe work the horses slow on the Saturday morning due to the conditions and then give them a faster work out on the Sunday morning.
It is important to recognise the help the club gave to us trainers under the trying circumstances and I am very thankful for that. The rescheduling of races and possible missed work can affect any horse’s performance as the disruption to their routine and work can have a detrimental effect on their performances.
With the Sunday morning markets on at Eagle Farm I walked Buffering up on the course proper with Melissa in the saddle. I chose to give him a gallop on the dirt track as the grass track was understandably very heavy after the five inches or so of rain in the previous twenty-four hours. Giving him the hit out on Sunday morning gave Buff the extra day to recover for the Wednesday race.
As we were walking up the main straight, we watched Adebisi go through his work-out and he looked strong.
He was the likely main danger to Buffering in the rescheduled WFA race, but as it turned out he ran way below expectations for no apparent reason as yet? Something may come to light in the next few days though. He is clearly better than his performance on Wednesday and quite possibly he simply did not handle the heavy track.
In the rescheduled race on Wednesday Buffering was simply awesome and he was going to be bloody hard to beat however you looked at the race. He ran a sizzling 1.10.69 on the heavy surface which perhaps explains his dominant win by a space.
He has mixed it with the best sprinters in the land and he is a proven weight-for-age performer which is a significant fact. It is a massive step up to WFA racing from handicaps which should never be underestimated and I am fortunate that Buffering has been able to take that step.
Whilst he is yet to win a Group 1 race, Buffering has placed on a number of occasions and I think it's fair to say that he has his hoof right on the Group 1 till! He certainly deserves a win at the elite level if only for his consistency at the top level this past 12 months!
I guess you can look at the rescheduling of the main Open Sprint in two ways. Yes, it was a shame to have lost the Group 2 Victory Stakes but it was the next best option to have another appropriate race added to the Wednesday card!
I didn't really want to go directly to the upcoming Group 1 BTC Cup without having raced for six weeks or so as I felt Buffering needed a race to bring him to his peak for the Group 1. This was even more apparent to me after his win on Wednesday as he still had a considerable 'blow' after the race, so I do expect him to take improvement out of his run.
The shortened turnaround to the BTC Cup from Wednesday’s race is not ideal but it’s better, I believe, than having him go directly into the race as I thought he needed a good hit out.
Time will tell if indeed I have made the right decision on that call!
A shame to have lost the Group 2 status of the race and, of course, the lesser prize money, but the connections and I are very thankful for the administrators for their efforts to put a race on for the six participants .The same can also be said for the decision to transfer the three-year-old Gunsynd Stakes as it was also an important lead up race for a number of potential Derby aspirants.
Buffering has an unbelievable temperament. He is so quiet and relaxed just about all of the time and it actually surprised a number of people to see him parade around the new enclosure at Eagle Farm pre race on Wednesday.
He just strolls around like it literally is a 'walk in the park'! Mind you, the moment he sets foot onto the race track he knows he is ready to rumble!
How fortunate am I to have two great sprinters in my stable at the same time. Woorim will always have a very special place in my life as the first Group 1 winner I trained and I guess it's no coincidence that the pair of them have that same special demeanour.
Sure, they have vastly different racing styles and Woorim has his fair share of 'issues' but their demeanours are both identical … beautifully natured animals!
Trump took out the other feature race on Wednesday, the Group 3 Gunsynd Stakes.
I have always thought highly of Trump and whilst he cannot be classed in the same mould as my two star sprinters, it did not surprise me to see the horse become a Group winner.
I have taken a lot of satisfaction out of Trump’s success as he's been a real work in progress since he first came into the stables. He was always a bit unruly and a bit difficult to handle but, with patience, we have taught to him chill out a lot and he's now showing us those results of that on the race track.
Great news for the sire, Written Tycoon as it's his first stakes winner and, I am sure, not his last.
This Saturday the Brisbane Metro tracks get a rest as the focus is firmly on the Gold Coast for their Hollindale Stakes Race Day.
I do so hope the weather clears as it looks to potentially be a top days racing. Some quality horses on display in some very open and competitive races chasing the good prize money on offer.
The state of the track will have a major bearing on the success of my stable representatives but, like always, there is a winner in every race. The track has often been my Nemesis as it’s usually on a rain affected surface, but fingers crossed my team can turn our glitter strip fortunes around.
Funtantes is racing in great form but she has drawn the car park in a pretty open mare’s race! The Prime Ministers Cup looks a top race. Great value if you can jag the winner of this race with the likely favourite, Mid Summer Music at about five bucks! Gundy Son will need the track to come back to a Dead 4 to be at his best although he does have the maestro in G Colless on top and no one rides that track better than Glen! Fillydelphia will be better when she gets over a bit further than the 1300 and she drawn awkward, but she is a classy mare and Jim will be asked to find her some cover in the run. She will have to be at her top as this is a top class field sprinters!
The days feature is the Weight-For-Age Hollindale. The German import, Mawingo will create enormous interest! She Sinsational is simply that, sensational. A multiple Group 1 winner already, so she can certainly win. My old fella, Triple Honour has dodged the retirement bullet and he seems to have rediscovered his zest for racing again. Seven or eight genuine winning chances and that's what good racing is all about … good, keen competitive affairs that stimulates the public's betting interest. I am not confident of Triple’s winning but I am sure he will have a decent crack! The Bracelet may even give us a glimpse of this year's Oaks winner? There's a filly called Pretty Pins … she is my long range Oaks tip.
Best of luck if you are having a punt. Good health and stay safe.
Cheers,
Rob
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