BUFFERING - THE HONG KONG DIARY - PART 4

By Robert Heathcote | Saturday, April 30, 2016

It’s getting ever so much closer to the big Group 1 Sprint on Sunday afternoon.

It has been a busy week but all the preparations have fallen into place and we have ticked all the right boxes going into the race.

We were very fortunate with the barrier draw. Gate 3 is ideal for us with 9 of the last 10 big Sha Tin sprints being won by horses drawn 1 to 5. That’s a statistic I like.

I cannot take too much credit for the good draw though. The 13 others had all chosen theirs and I got ‘stuck’ with 3!

I will settle for that though.

Chautauqua also drew well in gate 6 but we know he will get back in the run as is his racing pattern.

The main speed is outside of us with Peniaphobia in 8 and Aerovelocity drawing the shocker in 14. Mongolian Saturday is inside of us and he has speed so we will be trying to cross him to the rail as he does tend to hang out this way of going as we have seen in his track work.

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The rules in Hong Kong state that all horses must be weighed and their weights made public.

Buff has enjoyed his time here so far in Hong Kong, he is actually 4 kilos heavier than his winning weight in Dubai. He tipped the scales at 512 kilos.

I am still very happy where he is at.

He has done the required work, he looks in great order and his enthusiasm is where it needs to be.

He danced off the track this morning with his rider Mel exclaiming, ’He’s off his bleep bleep head.’

That caused plenty of amusement among the assembled media.

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Another requirement of the Jockey Club is that all horses are fully vetted the day prior to the race.

Old Buff has never been the most fluent trotter so the two regulatory vets went right over him and passed him fit and healthy to run.

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The Chairman’s Sprint is race 7 on the card and due to run local time at 3.30 pm which is 5.30pm Aus time.

I am sure Buff’s legion of fans will be watching and cheering him on as will the Chatauquas fan club and the many many punters with their money on him.

It’s been fun spending time with ‘team Aussie’ here at Sha Tin and if Buffering does not win, then I certainly hope it is Chautaqua!

He looks in super order and he will take a ton of beating.

The locals are real tough to beat at home but you can rest assured our two Aussie champs will give it a big shot.

Regards,

Robert

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