Queensland star sprinter Buffering is no sure thing to resume his winter campaign following a stone bruise that saw him withdrawn from Saturday’s Group 1 BTC Cup.

Buffering

Buffering has still not fully recovered from a stone bruise - photo © Taron Clarke

Just a few days of rest and recovery were expected to be all that was required for the Robert Heathcote-trained four-year-old but he is still requiring treatment on the injury that was revealed following routine trackwork last Friday.

The regular Group 1 place-getter will head to the beach today and Heathcote said he must be able to resume light training by Thursday before having a solid hit-out on Saturday to be a chance of a Doomben 10,000 start.

If he is not able to resume his preparation for Saturday week’s Doomben 10,000 in the next few days he is likely to be an early withdrawal from the winter carnival.

The son of Mossman has been nominated for the Stradbroke Handicap on June 9 but may not line up after being allocated 57kg, just one kilogram less than two-time Group 1 winning top weight Albert The Fat (58kg).

Heathcote may be inclined to give him some extra rest ahead of his spring campaign, admitting disappointment at the weight allocation considering he is yet to record victory at the elite level.

“I was a little disappointed with the weight they gave him, 57 kilos for a horse that’s never won a Group 1,” Heathcote said.

“If I didn’t run in the Stradbroke that just means it’s a couple of extra weeks he can have in the paddock.”

The talented sprinter has nine wins from 24 starts but has been unable to breakthrough at Group 1 level, regularly finishing behind star sprinters Black Caviar and Hay List.

He ran third behind the pair in last year’s BTC Cup and was a short-priced favourite to take top honours this year before the injury forced his unfortunate scratching.

If he does recover in time for the Doomben 10,000 he will take on BTC Cup winner Sea Siren who produced an impressive performance to beat a host of older horses by more than a length in Saturday’s feature sprint.

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