Buffering has pulled up sore after finishing second to Samaready in the Group One A J Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley on Friday night.

Melissa Leitch, who is supervising Buffering's Melbourne campaign for trainer Robert Heathcote, noticed the gelding was lame in his near fore hoof on Saturday morning.

"Melissa phoned me this morning and said when she led him out of his box he was noticeably lame," Heathcote said.

"What caused it we're not really sure. It's normally a concussion injury to the hoof."

Heathcote insisted he wasn't using the hoof injury as an excuse for Buffering's Moir defeat.

"Samaready was dynamic," he said.

"I'm not saying it cost him the race because they'll all say that's our excuse because we were beaten.

"He's sore. It's as simple as that."

Heathcote said Buffering's hoof problem won't interfere with the rest of his spring campaign.

"He's not running for a month anyway so the standard procedure is it'll take a week and I reckon we'll be on top of it," he said.

Buffering's next start in Melbourne will be the Group One Manikato Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley on October 25 when he stages a rematch with Samaready.