Trainer Robert Heathcote has revealed Buffering will not compete at Royal Ascot this year.
The nine-year-old, who is a multiple Group 1 winner, won the Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan last month after beating Ertijaal in second by three-quarters-of-a-length.
That performance had seen the gelding’s odds for the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot shorten and there was a real buzz about the possibility of seeing the horse in action.
However, Heathcote has ended any hopes of Buffering featuring after confirming his charge is set for a return to Australia instead.
“In the end Royal Ascot was just a bridge too far,” he said. “It was certainly enticing but I’ve still got a business to run back here and the logistics of it were too hard.
“He deserves a trip home and some sun on his back and hopefully I can get him ready to win a fourth Moir Stakes.”
Buffering will compete in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize in Hong Kong before heading Down Under and Heathcote is confident of picking up another victory.
He added: “Buffering was vetted this morning ahead of his trip to Hong Kong and the vet in Dubai said he had the cleanest legs for an eight-year-old he’d ever seen. I’m looking forward to the race.”
