BUFFERING - THE HONG KONG DIARY - PART 2

By Robert Heathcote | Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Hi again. Yes, just less than a week to go now before the big Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint on May 1st.

Buffering has settled in brilliantly since he has been here and we are as happy as we could possibly be with him.

He recovered well from his turf gallop on Saturday morning. He will have the one more piece of serious work on Tuesday morning on the turf to top him off for the upcoming race.

Sunday saw the first of the feature double header with the running of the QE 11 Cup at Sha Tin. The race is worth $20 million HK$s, (about A$3.5 million) and featured possibly Japan’s best 2000m horse Lovely Day, International globetrotter Highland Reel as well the local hopes, Werther and Designs On Rome.

Buffering was cheering for his new girlfriend stable companion Rising Romance.

The Jockey Club hosted the visiting trainers with wonderful hospitality in the amazing facilities available.

Ultimately the QE 11 Cup was won by a horse know to us in Australia and New Zealand. Werther was dominant in the yielding conditions and continues the extraordinary success of Hugh Bowman these past few years.

Clearly a jockey at the top of his game and riding with supreme confidence.

Sunday’s win of the John Moore trained four year old takes his season’s prizemoney earnings to a staggering HK$95 million or close to that.

The world’s best jockeys were on display with Yutake Take, Joao Moriera, Bowman, Ryan Moore and a host of others.

The Japanese trio were expected to dominate the race but once the skies opened up, the complexion of the race changed.

The forecast for the week is again for high humidity and probably rain storms so perhaps the big sprint / champions mile day will again be run on a rain affected track.

Buffering handles those conditions and we certainly know the favourite Chautauqua is brilliant in the wet as well as the dry.

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Back home at the Sunshine Coast our stable had a super day getting a treble and a stakes winning double but the day’s racing was certainly over shadowed by the dramatic float accident.

A huge relief for all in the industry that no one was hurt and the horses are not seriously injured and should all make a full recovery.

Kaiser Franz has copped his share of knockers this prep after not having a lot of luck in a number of his races but he’s silenced them by winning his last couple in fine style.

He will now enjoy a well-earned break and return to racing after the winter carnival.

Bewhatyouwannabe’s Listed win now takes his stakes tally wins to three so he has done a super job.

He may now head to Scone for the local cup or maybe have another crack at a Listed mile in three weeks.

Hopfgarten’s win although marred with the late scratching’s of the Gollan runners was very satisfying to us after his luckless Melbourne spring carnival.

The win certainly shows he has come back in great order as we head into the upcoming winter carnival. He will now head to the Prime Ministers Cup at the Gold Coast, possibly then up to the mile or maybe the 1350 Group 3 Darley Sprint ... and then perhaps a crack at the Stradbroke if he stays sharp enough.

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So there we have it. As Buffering enters his final week in the lead up to Sunday’s $10 million HK$ race he is well, looks in great order and good to go.

His final gallop will be on Tuesday morning on the turf course proper.

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