ROB'S SHOUT - THE BUFFERING RIDE CONTINUES
By Robert Heathcote | Thursday, November 6, 2014
In his personal blog, exclusive to HRO, multiple premiership winning trainer Robert Heathcote looks ahead to the local and international challenges facing stable star Buffering,
The Buffering ride continues at Flemington on Saturday.
Damian Browne said to me after the Manikato Stakes that Buffering’s run was probably the toughest and gutsiest run of his career!
That’s a big call considering the record books will show he only ran seventh but it certainly puts the race into a better perspective for his legion of fans.
It sure was an amazing race with the closest and most exciting finish one will ever see in a Group 1 sprint.
Damian’s comment stems from the fact that our little champ suffered what the stewards deemed as ‘severe interference’ when he was literally turned sideways not long after the start when he was under maximum acceleration.
The little Bulldog dug deep. The deepest he has ever had to go in our opinion and he knew he had run the toughest race of his life afterwards.
He was literally spent after the race and quite stiff and sore for a good few days afterwards.
That was the major concern we had. How much damage had he done to himself and could he recover in time for the sprint ‘grand final’ up the famous straight six on Stakes day?
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The morning after he was simply too sore to trot up for the vet to evaluate, Buff crabbed sideways and was in plenty of discomfort.
He hadn’t been given any pain relief at that stage until the vet had fully evaluated the problem.
The vet found the horse had muscles spasms/knotting in his lower back lumbar region, no doubt from being ‘turned sideways’ in the interference.
We were hoping like mad there was no long term damaged or torn muscles. He was then given anti-inflammatory treatment and confined to light walking only until we saw improvement.
Fortunately the improvement came quickly as we did see dramatic improvement in the next forty-eight hours and he freed up really well. He had some muscle massage therapy which helped immensely and his first two sessions back under saddle were long walks in the water at the beach.
I was not overly concerned about the horse missing some track work as his fitness levels were where they needed to be so a quiet week should still not affect him going into the Darley Sprint.
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Of course there will be that element of doubt because no horse can really cope with a setback leading into what looks like the most ‘competitive’ race he will have ever lined up in.
Buffering has raced against the best in the land during his career and it is fair to say this field comprises the best sprinters in not only Australia but also the world at the present time!
Slade Power is the European champion. Lankan Rupee is currently the highest rated sprinter and then there is the ‘new boom kid’ on the block Chautauqua along with Terravista, who his trainer says is the ‘world’s best sprinter’, so, yes, it does look like it could be one of the races of the Spring Carnival.
Buff maybe isn’t the best sprinter in the world but I reckon he is the toughest in the world and that can’t be disputed after competing at the very highest level for such a long time.
His longevity racing against the best sprinters in the land for the past five years or so has been amazing.
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Regardless of his performance on Saturday in the Darley Sprint, he is still very much on track to head overseas to Hong Kong to fulfil a long held dream and race in the International Longines Sprint Classic!
In fact, the official invitation was waiting for me when I got home yesterday which has taken the excitement and anticipation to a new level.
For me and the team it will be a whole new ball game but we are pleased in the knowledge that Buffering is a very experienced ‘traveller’ and he has plenty of frequent flyer miles up his sleeve!
After Saturdays Darley Sprint, he will spend three further weeks in Melbourne before he flies to Hong Kong on the 1st December and prepares for his race on December the 14th.
I am hoping that there are a couple of other Aussie or Kiwi horses heading onto the world stage as well as Buff would love the company of a few mates. In fact it’s essential really as it can get lonely in the quarantine barn if the horses are on their own as Sea Siren was a few years ago.
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Buffering is now getting very close to magical $5 million mark in prize money earnings … extraordinary for the little gelding who cost a measly $22 grand!
It’s why the dream of thoroughbred horse racing is so very much alive and that’s in a week where a bunch of Aussies sourced out Protectionist from Germany and won a Melbourne Cup.
No doubt for a lot more than $22 grand but they achieved their goal and realised a dream and fair to say he is now worth a lot more than they paid!
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Whilst my focus is very much on the preparation of Buffering it is still business as usual back home. The stable is going along very nicely with a steady stream of winners and a healthy strike rate.
Last weekend was very good with a city treble on Saturday and a double on the Sunday. A winner on Cup day and another yesterday to take our seasons tally to 40 winners.
That currently places my stable in sixth place nationally in terms of winners only behind the likes of Darren Weir, Peter Moody, Chris Waller, the David Hayes & Tom Dabernig partnership and Gai Waterhouse.
My stable has only had 187 runners while, by comparison, the top four stables have all had in excess of 350 runners … so yes, I’m very happy about how we are going this season!
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All three of last Saturday’s winners are building impressive records and are all young enough to have plenty of room for further improvement.
Hopfgarten was the last leg of the winning treble and he was impressive. He didn’t have a lot of luck but his rider Bridget Grylls kept him nicely balanced and was strong. I think it will be an excellent form race with Rudy and Sir Moments both going onto bigger and better things!
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Lastly, young Bridget Grylls deserves a special mention.
She is currently doing a terrific job yet, in spite of her outstanding results, she still flies pretty much under the radar. I have given her an excellent opportunity and she has responded well.
Still learning, sure, but willing and happy to take advice … she is obviously heading in the right direction.
Regards.
Robert
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