A SPECIAL DAY. A SPECIAL HORSE

By Robert Heathcote | Friday, June 17, 2016

Multi-premiership winning trainer Robert Heathcote had his star performer Buffering filling a celebrity role at the opening of the new Eagle Farm track on Stradbroke day last Saturday.

The horse put on a show when parading solo and also posed for photos with his fans given everybody the chance to get up close and personal with the current four-time (soon to be five-time) Queensland Horse Of The Year.

Add in the official unveiling of the new Buffering Bar and it was a gratifying and humbling experience for Heathcote, and it was all topped off by the win stable runner Hopfgarten in the Listed Wayne Wilson Stakes. Here Heathcote looks back at a special day with a special horse.

Stradbroke day was really a special day for my stable having Buffering there at the track.

He has run second in two Stradbroke’s and, strangely enough, it is probably one of my most memorable moments in racing was when Buffering was beaten in a Group 1 by Linton that day when the grey flashed up the fence when we were already counting the cash.

I can still see that grey ghost coming through!

But it is just so good to have Buffering back in Queensland after a successful overseas trip to Dubai and then on to Hong Kong and then down to Melbourne before making the journey back home.

You had to see it to believe it when Buffering paraded on Stradbroke day. He walked around that parade ring enclosure kicking up. In fact he did it eight consecutive times ... the highest back kicks I have ever seen any horse do.

The crowd when he walked around doing that gave him a small round of applause. They thought it was something I had trained him to do, but that was far from the case.

I think that Buffering was glad to be back and being the competitive beast that he is I think the juices just got flowing.

You know he was on his best behaviour when he had his picture taken so many times with so many fans but once in the parade ring his competitive spirit came out.

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For me personally, and I know this also applies to Buffering’s owners, it was quite a moving ceremony with the Deputy Chairman of the BRC opened the Buffering Bar.

He unveiled a plaque. In a sense, it was almost like acknowledging a living legend.

The bar will always be there ... long after we are all gone so, when he does retire, it really does allow Buffering’s legacy to be remembered and we are grateful that he has been acknowledged in this way.

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It has been well documented what an amazing part of my life Buffering has been ... of the owner’s lives and I’m proud to say a major part of Queensland Racing.

I mean he has been Queensland Racehorse Of The Year four times and could make it five this season.

For him to come back again now and, all being well, to take us again on another leg of this ever continuing journey to the Moir Stakes, a Group 1 ... the Winterbottom, Group 1 ... the Magic Millions, a million dollar race, having topped off what’s gone before with racing in Dubai and winning in the big international stage ... it’s the pinnacle of my career.

I’ll look back at it one day when I’m old and infirm and I’ll stick the replays on and sit and really cherish the wonderful memories Buffering has given us.

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Just on Stradbroke day, I want to say that it has been a long two years away from Eagle Farm and I’m not going to forget how tough it has been ... for all concerned.

It was a very tough two years and we have still not settled all that needs to be done In Queensland. We’ve yet to have a confirmed CEO at Racing Queensland. We’ve yet to have a confirmed board, so we still have quite a way to go, but getting the grand old lady, Eagle Farm, back on board is the biggest start.

Stradbroke Day is a special day for any person racing in Queensland. It is our turn to shine on the national stage and I think we did that admirably on Saturday with some great racing.

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There were always going to be some controversial issues with the running of the Stradbroke meeting ... the crowds and the bars etc. I’m sure there will be some lessons learnt out of that.

The track itself came in for some criticisms and perhaps, in part, rightly so, but I think the right horses won on the day ... I know mine did.

I say that last part tongue in cheek, but if you look at the day’s event, the right two-year-old won, the right horses fought the Derby out, the right horse won the Oaks and the best form in the Stradbroke came to the surface.

Yes there were horses that finished well back and yes the track cut up on the inside but they all knew they were going out onto a new track.

It was always going to be the case that the new track would need a period of time to consolidate and for the BRC staff to understand the new racing surface.They are in a learning process and there are things they are going to have to work out.

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How good the track is going to be moving forward ... only time will tell ... but I can tell you one thing for sure.

I walked around the racetrack on Saturday. I walked through the horse stalls. I walked through the marquees and everywhere else ... and the buzz was back.

Sure a large percentage of people were not there for the racing. They were there for the pure social occasion and pageantry that racing produces but the bottom line is ... it was good to be back at Eagle Farm and it was a fantastic day’s racing!

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