Star sprinter Buffering has arrived safely in Dubai for the first leg of an international campaign aimed at two Group One races.
Buffering is set to tackle the Group One Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai on Sunday week and then go to Hong Kong for the Chairman’s Sprint Prize on May 1.
Trainer Rob Heathcote said Buffering arrived in Dubai on Wednesday morning (AEDT) and was doing well.
“The first part of the campaign has gone well as he has got there safely,” Heathcote said.
“He had a two-hour stopover in Hong Kong and he wasn’t allowed off the plane.”
“But he had a large crate and he was able to eat and drink there.”
Buffering, a six-time Group One winner in Australia, will rest for a day and then do some light work until next week.
“We will give him his only major track gallop on Tuesday morning,” Heathcote said.
“I’m arriving in Dubai tomorrow and will able to monitor the situation better but he should only need one solid trackwork gallop.”
“He was very good in a gallop at Eagle Farm and his jockey Damian Browne said if we get him to the Dubai race in that fettle he will be very hard to beat.”
Heathcote and Buffering’s owners leave Australia for Dubai on Wednesday night and are excited.
“It is great for us but also for Queensland racing to have a genuine chance on the international stage,” Heathcote said.
After Hong Kong Buffering will return to Australia with another Melbourne spring and Perth summer on the cards.
