BROWNIE'S BLOG - LOOKING FORWARD TO THE MANIKATO AND A POETIC TRIBUTE TO BUFF

By Damian Browne | Friday, October 23, 2015

Damian Browne is rated right up there with the best jockeys in Australia. After severe injury setbacks this multiple Group 1 winning jockey has fought back against the odds to establish a solid reputation both as a person and as a rider, where he has built an enviable race record largely courtesy of his exceptional expertise as a horseman. Damian’s column, ‘Brownies Blog’ appears exclusively on HRO

I’m really looking forward to Moonee Valley and Buffering’s crack at landing a second Manikato Stakes tonight. I’ll also be at the track on Saturday for just one ride on Cox Plate day.

Buffering is doing well. His work during the week was really good. He also looks fantastic, so everybody involved with him is very happy.

Buffering has got a good enough record second-up having won three times and been placed on another four occasions in ten second-up starts. He has won eleven times over the distance. He has won five out of ten at the track ... so he has got the form on the board in every direction.

It’s not a capacity field this year but there are some good ones in it for sure. There are probably five realistic winning chances and there are probably a couple who might struggle a little bit but the four or five top line sprinters in the race are probably the best in the country.

I couldn’t be much happier with the way the draws have worked out. We jump from barrier seven. Hopefully we’ll be able to come across at our own pace.

It will be interesting to see where Terravista (drawn one) and Chautauqua (drawn 2) end up.

They are obvious contenders. Hopefully for me they get caught up in a bit of traffic.

Tiger Tees is another worry. He is the stable companion to Terravista and there are a number of the same owners in both horses. I hope he doesn’t try to serve it up to me early. It wouldn’t surprise me if that happens, but it will bring him undone if he does.

Srikandi is the other one who will probably come across with us from the outside draw.

I rode her first-up in the Victory Stakes at the Gold Coast at the start of our carnival. Although she was very, very good that day I don’t think she will have the toe that Buffering will show. I’m pretty sure they’ll be happy to take a sit behind us.

Mid-race will be an interesting factor.

If I can get just that bit of a breather that will hopefully make it mathematically very difficult for the others to run me down. If I am able to run home in thirty three and a half sort of thing ... well, that would make it very hard for those horses coming from behind for sure.

As I said previously you can’t fly out of Melbourne after a certain time at night, so I was staying over on Friday night anyway and I decided to stay for Cox Plate day where I’ve again only got one ride ... on Hopfgarten.

I rode at a Cox Plate meeting about twenty years ago. I haven’t been to one since. On Saturday it is the race following Hopfgarten’s race so I probably won’t even get to see it ... but there’s is no doubt it is going to be a great weekend for racing.

And to close, an unusual ending.

In a moment of downtime, far away from the action, I penned the following as a tribute to the horse that has carried me on such a scintillating journey.

When they come out of the gates, as quick as they can
They are all looking around for just one man
They look for those colours, the blue and the black
The young and the old, they come for a crack
But when they start gasping and looking for air
My job is easy, just sit there and steer
When they’ve done their best and all have had enough
I push the button, it is go time for the Buff

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