Robert Heathcote has declared Solzhenitsyn on track to defend his Toorak Handicap title.

Solzhenitsyn opened his Melbourne spring campaign with a close third to Rebel Dane and Fontelina in the Group One Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on September 29.

That effort mirrored his performance in the same race 12 months earlier before he went on to win the Toorak at his next start.

"The horse is going brilliant and I've always believed he's better over a mile than 1400 metres," Heathcote said.

If Solzhenitsyn wins the Toorak for the second year in a row he will join Saxony (1948, `49), Desert Breeze (1952, `53), Nicopolis (1963, `64) and Umrum (1999, 2000) as dual winners of the famous Caulfield mile event.

The trainer was buoyed by a glowing post-race report from jockey Nash Rawiller after he rode the gelding for the first time in the Rupert Clarke.

"When we asked him after the race if he wanted to ride him in the Toorak he leapt at the chance," he said.

"Interestingly he made the comment afterwards that Solzhenitsyn feels like a great 2000 metre horse which is something I've always thought.

"The only time he's been past a mile since he's been with me was in the Hollindale Stakes at the Gold Coast when they walked and sprinted up the straight."

Solzhenitsyn wasn't entered for the Cox Plate but Heathcote is keen to give him his opportunity of winning a Group One 2000m race in next year's Doomben Cup.

The gelding was beaten in a close three-way photo finish in the Clarke, but Heathcote was far from bitter about the defeat.

"That's the luck of racing," he said.

"You can't be disappointed finishing third in a Group One race especially when he ran so well."

Heathcote is happy with the progress Buffering is making from a bruised near-fore hoof in the wake of his gallant second to Samaready in the Group One A J Moir Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley on September 27.

He said an abscess was healing well and Buffering would be ready for the Manikato on October 25.

"There's still three weeks to go until the Manikato and he'll be fine by then," he said.