Hendra State School pay tribute to retired sprinter Buffering with mural

QUEENSLAND racing icon Buffering is in the retirement paddock but his legend is growing at Hendra State School.

QUEENSLAND racing icon Buffering is in the retirement paddock but his legend is growing at Hendra State School.

The schoolkids have painted a racing mural and Buffering is the star of the show thanks to renowned equine artist Maryanne Lillecrapp.

Lillecrapp not only helped the enthusiastic kids paint the mural but also donated a framed Buffering print which will often sit alongside the colourful mural.

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Buffering retired after the Manikato Stakes last month with more than $7 million in prizemoney and eight Group 1s. He was one of the great stories of Queensland sport and is now happily living at Living Legends in Melbourne with other champions like Might And Power, Apache Cat, Fields Of Omagh and Efficient.

Former jockey Bernadette Cooper, now a Sky Racing presenter, was a big Buffering fan and the driving force behind the school racing mural at Hendra.

Buffering is enjoying retirement at Living Legends in Victoria. Picture: Kylie Else

Her nine-year-old daughter Stella is a Grade Three student there.

“The kids at the school did a leadership course and had to come up with an idea to beautify the school and engage the local community,” Cooper said. “They decided they would do a racing mural and I asked Maryanne Lillecrapp to come on board and guide the kids with the mural.

“In the process she donated the Buffering print and the kids absolutely love it.”

Buffering will be in the thoughts of many in the racing industry on Saturday when the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes — the race he won twice — takes centre stage in Perth.

Hendra State School student captains Damon Karauna and Mya Taylor and Buffering's trainer Rob Heathcote check out Maryanne Lillecrapp's painting of Buffering. Picture: Claudia Baxter

Originally published as Hendra State School pay tribute to retired sprinter Buffering with mural