Peter Moody has Flamberge in the 2015 Moir Stakes field, but the leading Melbourne trainer believes that Buffering could be the horse to beat in the Group 1 event at Moonee Valley tomorrow.
Flamberge has the chance to record a second win at Group 1 level in the 2015 Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley tonight. Photo by: Jenny Barnes
Buffering led from start to finish to win the Group 1 Moir Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley last year and he did the same when he beat Moody-trained Moment Of Change in the 2013 edition of the Group 1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) over the same track and distance.
Moody told Racing Ahead that he expects Buffering to take up the running in the early stages of the 2015 Moir Stakes and he believes that the Mossman gelding will be near impossible to run down if he is not challenged by Petits Filous and Fontiton in the early stages of the race.
“He is going to be wide and I just hope that he gets a little bit of cover at some stage,” Moody said.
“They are going to go like cut cats and Buffering is a very hard horse to run down and you have the three-year-olds with the big weight advantage that you would imagine would be serving it up to him.
“If they don’t Buffering just wins because he doesn’t stop and if they do they are all going to be hard to beat.”
While Moody believes that Buffering is the horse to beat in the Moir Stakes, he is still happy with the physical condition of Flamberge, who recorded his maiden win at Group 1 level when he took out The Goodwood (1200m) earlier this year.
Flamberge returned to the races with a second place finish behind Chautauqua in the Group 2 McEwen Stakes (1000m) at Moonee Valley on September 5 and Moody believes that the son of Exceed And Excel has taken plenty of benefit from a freshen-up between races.
“He is a very honest horse, he tries his hardest every time and you know that he won’t be far away on the line,” Moody said.
“He has had the nice break and he appreciates the nice break to try and keep that little bit of ping in him over 1000 metres.
“He has enjoyed that and he worked nicely here on Tuesday morning.”
Flamberge is currently available at 2015 Moir Stakes odds of $12 with Ladbrokes and he is on the sixth line of betting behind Petits Filous ($2.20), Fontiton ($4.80), Buffering ($7), Ball Of Muscle ($8) and Angelic Light ($11).
