It will obviously be a fitting result if Rothfire were to win the $300,000 Magic Millions Buffering at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
It would be a case of the long-retired Buffering, who was the Queensland Horse Of The Year on multiple occasions and who the race is named after, giving the horse who took up his mantle in the Robert Heathcote stable a nod of approval.
Saturday’s race has added incentive for Rothfire, other than nostalgia, because a win in the Buffering will give Rothfire a wildcard entry into the $2 million Magic Millions Cup on January 17, Magic Millions Day.
That outcome would give the connections of Rothfire their dream summer season, but the truth of the matter is that the Buffering / Magic Millions Cup double is a very big ask.
For the second step to become a reality, Rothfire must win the Buffering … and that, in itself, sets the son of Rothesay a very real challenge.
The Tony Gollan-trained Rockribbed, who beat Rothfire home in the Lough Neagh Stakes by 0.70 lengths at the same weight terms at which they will meet on Saturday, could be the best of the local rivals that Rothfire will face, but it is the big-name visiting trainers, who send out more than half of the field, who will be looking to swamp the locals and take the prize-money back interstate … and most have brought their own jockeys up in the quest to help do so.
These threats include:
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained The Three Hundred who won the Magic Millions Wyong 3YO & 4YO Stakes. The four-year-old will be ridden by Tim Clark.
The Annabel and Rob Archibald-trained Tuned who won The Gateway. The four-year-old will be ridden by Daniel Moor.
Bjorn Baker saddles two runners … Robusto, who has a Group 2 win in The Ingham to his name, and Sandpaper. They will be ridden by Joshua Parr and Kerrin McEvoy respectively.
Peter Snowden, whose runners are always capable of landing the result, brings Need Some Luck to Brisbane. Tommy Berry will be in the saddle … and last, but not least, Ciaron Maher has Zaszou in the Buffering lineup with Craig Williams taking the ride.
That is about as formidable a set of visiting trainers and jockeys you are likely to find. They arrive with intent, so Rothfire, who will be ridden by Ben Thompson, and Rockribbed (Ryan Maloney) will have to push back hard if they are going to score one for the locals.
They do have backup in the form of other local trainers in Mark Currie, who saddles Tavs (Angela Jones) who has won two out of his last three starts, both in Listed company … Paul Jenkins, who saddles I Am Artie (Mark Du Plessis) … and Kelly Schweida, who saddles El Morzillo, who could be the dark horse in the race if he can reclaim the form that carried him to victory in the Inglis Sprint at Flemington back in March, particularly with the very much in-form Jason Collett to ride. Collett rode four winners at Eagle Farm last Saturday.
Which brings us back to Rothfire and his chance of landing a special victory.
The race is as competitive as it gets and, if nothing else, Rothfire loves a fight. He gets one here so that alone should put him in play, because a fighter, well fancied or not, can always land a knock-out blow.
