Millionaire pair keen to break their group 1 ducks On the cards: Buffering is in line to get a first win at group 1 level in the BTC Cup at Eagle Farm. Photo: Jenny Evans They have faced some of the biggest names in racing, but millionaires Buffering and Rain Affair will be looking to finally get a first win at group 1 level in Saturday's BTC Cup at Eagle Farm. Buffering passed the $2 million barrier last start, winning the Victory Stakes at Doomben, and is a $3 favourite in TAB.com.au betting for Saturday. However, in 13 group 1 starts he has had seven placings, without a win, and three fourths. Rain Affair might only be half the horse of Buffering when it comes to stats, but he is in career-best form. He has won more than $1.1 million in stakes and has three placings and two fourths from six group 1 attempts. Given a wet track he is probably the best sprinter in the country: Joe Pride on Rain Affair. "I'm sure he is one of the best sprinters in the country, his record tells you that," Rain Affair's trainer Joe Pride said. Given a wet track he is probably the best sprinter in the country. He goes up there ready to go. Sydney's Rain Affair shares the third line of betting with Queenslander Better Than Ready at $5, behind last-start winner Sea Siren at $4.20 and Buffering. The five-year-old has recovered from bone chips being removed from his knees late last year, and it has forced Pride into a late autumn-winter campaign. "I thought he was invincible there for a while when it came to soundness," Pride said. In the spring he just wasn't himself, and we discovered the chips, which explained it. He had to have the time off to recover from the operation, and he really couldn't have started any sooner. It has worked out well because I'm not taking a tired horse up to Brisbane, and he has always struck me as a perfect winter carnival horse. The winners of Rain Affair's six group 1 appearances are the top performers. Black Caviar, Hay List, Atlantic Jewel, Pierro and All Too Hard have excited punters, but Master Of Design, which won last year's T.J. Smith, appears an odd horse out. "That is probably the [group 1] that got away," Pride said of the TJ Smith when Rain Affair was grabbed in the shadows of the post. He went on to be runner-up to Atlantic Jewel at his next start in the All Aged Stakes before spelling and returning for his injury-shortened spring campaign. Since knee surgery, Rain Affair has raced at the top level, providing the speed for three memorable contests of the autumn carnival. He led the Canterbury Stakes before knocking up for fourth behind Pierro, then set the tempo in Black Caviar's final win in the T.J. Smith, where he was also fourth. Last time, it took a super effort from All Too Hard to run him down in the All Aged Stakes. "He has always raced well at weight-for-age, and I think his style will make him hard to beat up there," Pride said. With respect to what he is going to meet in the BTC Cup, I think he is probably dropping a bit in class. He gets in fit and very well and will give them something to chase.