Star Queensland sprinter Buffering kicked off his spring in ideal fashion at Moonee Valley tonight with a gritty win in the Group 2 2012 Moir Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley.

The son of Mossman missed the start and had to work hard to attain the lead while receiving pressure from Tiger Tees who sat outside him.

But as the field approached the turn the class rose to the top and Buffering kicked clear before showing courage to hang on in the dying stages and claim a half-length victory from Ready To Rip and Thankgodyou’rehere.

Trainer Robert Heathcote was delighted with the performance who is hoping will finally claim a Group 1 victory in the Manikato Stakes (1200m) on October 26.

“The ultimate goal is a Group 1 and there is one here in a month, the Manikato,” Heathcote said.

“Missing the start and having to do that extra bit of work made it that little bit harder but we knew when the cards were on the table this guy would really fight…weight-for-age, 1200 metres first-up, no trial, no jump-out and he’s done it.

“Horses like Buffering make trainers look good.”

Heathcote said the decision on whether Buffering goes to the Group 2 Schillaci Stakes on October 13 will depend on how he pulls up following the tough first-up hitout.

Tiger Tees was considered a strong chance of upsetting Buffering but failed to kick in the straight and eventually finished in fourth position.

These sprinters are likely to clash many times throughout the spring carnival so follow them and back your winners at bookmaker.com.au.

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Moir Stakes 2012 – Results

Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Starting Price
1	2	BUFFERING	Robert Heathcote	Hugh Bowman	–	2	58.5kg	$2F
2	5	READY TO RIP	Peter G Moody	Luke Nolen	0.2L	1	58.5kg	$12
3	4	THANKGODYOU’REHERE	Peter Morgan & Craig Widdison	Glen Boss	0.95L	7	58.5kg	$12
4	6	TIGER TEES (NZ)	Joseph Pride	Corey Brown	1.45L	6	58.5kg	$4
5	8	PLATELET	Darren Weir	Craig Newitt	1.55L	5	56.5kg	$16
6	3	ATOMIC FORCE	Mick Price	Nash Rawiller	1.65L	3	58.5kg	$15
7	1	GREEN BIRDIE (NZ)	Tony Vasil	Craig Williams	1.85L	8	58.5kg	$41
8	7	ELITE FALLS	John O’Shea	Jim Cassidy	11.85L	4	56.5kg	$17