By Craig Kerry
After 42 years of trying, Newcastle trainer David Atkins knows how hard it is to win a group 1.
He also knows what it’s like to train a promising two-year-old.
Buffalo, on the far right, launches late in the ATC Sires Produce Stakes to finish third.Credit: Getty Images
And in his fast-finishing gelding Buffalo, Atkins believes he has the horse to break his duck at the top level in the $1 million Champagne Stakes (1600m) on Saturday at Randwick.
Buffalo, bred and owned by Newcastle businessman Matt Chidgey, has won only once, at Newcastle, in five starts, but he has flashed home regularly. He put in his best performance last time out when a long neck third to Vinrock in the group 1 ATC Sires Produce Stakes (1400m) at Randwick two weeks ago.
Stretching him out to the mile, Atkins hopes Buffalo can take the next step on Saturday. He was a $6.50 chance with Sportsbet after drawing gate five. Jason Collett is aboard, taking over from Zac Purton, who said Buffalo would have won the Sires with a clearer run.
“The mile certainly won’t worry him,” Atkins said.
Jason Collett will ride Buffalo on Saturday.Credit: Getty
“Zac came back the other day and said he’s going to be a great mile, 2000-metre horse.
“You’ve got to listen to him. He’s one of the best riders in the world.”
Atkins said he has worked to make Buffalo sharper out of the gates, and he was encouraged by a better start in the Sires.
“He’s pretty handy,” Atkins said.
“He didn’t jump too bad the other day, but he’s just got no early speed. He just doesn’t pick up quick enough.
“But he surely finishes off good, which is the main thing.
“It would be great if he could step out a bit better, race in a touch closer, and he hasn’t got so much work to do, but that’s just him.
“He has always been a good type of horse, pretty straightforward. He was a lovely mover as a yearling. He’s not overly tall, but he’s got plenty of length about him, and he handles things really well.”
Atkins won the group 2 Skyline Stakes with Promitto in 2022 and he prepared Jonker when he was a luckless fancy in the 2018 Magic Millions Classic after winning the Max Lees and Wyong MM classics.
He said Buffalo, which races in the colours of the great Gunsynd, was the best two-year-old he has trained “based on the company he’s been racing in, and he hasn’t had a great deal of luck”.
“I don’t race a lot of two-year-olds, but this bloke, he’s just handled everything really well,” he said.
“He’s a good eater. He doesn’t do a lot of hard work at all. He goes to the beach once or twice a week. He loves it down there and lets the little waves come over him. He’s a character. It just keeps him nice and bright and fresh.
“He’s not a big, heavy horse, he’s just a real athletic horse.”
Atkins, who has been training since he was 18, has helped prepare group 1 placegetters like Rebel Rock, Impaler and Moss Rocket, and he’s hoping Buffalo can snare that elusive win.
“They are certainly not easy to win, I’ll tell ya,” he said.
“I’ve been placed in four of them but never won. Maybe we’ll get our chance on Saturday.
“But I’m not so much worried about winning a group 1. It’s more about winning good money for the owner.
“Matt’s been a great supporter and he’s a terrific bloke as well. He lets me do pretty much what I want with the horses. He says, you’re the horse trainer and I’m the butcher.”
