Lack of wins not a concern for Thompson kennel

By Josh Spasaro

He might not have won a race since January 27, but Clinton Thompson has been happy with the attitude of Blake’s John going into the QGOLD Final at Rockhampton on Wednesday night.

The three-year-old dog has finished runner-up for the Central Queensland conditioning pair of Clinton and Juanita Thompson in his past three consecutive starts.

That has included being beaten twice by Darren Taylor’s impressive two-year-old bitch, Dish Liquor, who has seven wins from 12 starts.

And, last Wednesday night, Steve Scott’s smart 22-month-old bitch Deep State was a big winner over 510 metres. 

Both bitches won’t be starting in this week’s race over the same distance, but it is not short on talent.

Tagovailoa for Tom Tzouvelis, Out The Bottle for Darren Taylor and Riding Solo for Amber Boody will all be hard to beat in the feature worth $15,680.

“We stepped him (Blake's John) up a little earlier than what we should have fitness-wise,” Clinton said.

“He was getting up in grade over 407 metres and getting (beaten). So, we decided to put him up in grade and he’s been unlucky to have been beaten by some really good dogs.

“One of Darren Taylor’s and one of Steven Scott’s.

“It’s a really good race. Tom’s bringing up Tagovailoa and he won a (Final) of the Wildcard (last year). Out The Bottle likes Rockhampton.”

Blake’s John finished seventh and eighth from the eight box, respectively, over 407 metres at Rockhampton on September 7 and 14.

He has drawn the seven lane for Wednesday night’s Final, but has been exiting the boxes well lately.

Clinton believes this should hold him in good stead for race six on the program.

“He’s been jumping pretty well and has a bit of early pace lately. So, he has been getting out and going OK,” Clinton said.

“Every start is getting better, but when you run into dogs like Dish Liquor and Deep State, you don’t hit them every day of the week in fifth grade.”

Clinton added he did not lack courage for a slightly smaller dog.

Clinton says it will be a big ask to compete in a Final not short on quality chasers.

“He is (courageous) for something that’s about 27kg. He’s only a little boy. He goes OK," he said. 

Clinton said he also thought kennelmates Go Rocky Go and Rosa’s Robbie were capable of running well in race one and three on the Rockhampton card on Wednesday night.

“I do like Go Rocky Go – he’s been going fairly good lately,” Clinton said.

“And, Rosa’s Robbie ran a good race last time. We got him right and he won last week.

“He came back from a wrist injury and he found a bit of form last week. But, it’s hard to win in 'Rocky' at the moment. There are some really good dogs up here.

“You get the likes of Steve Scott who can go to Brisbane and win races. So the class of dogs up here has come along a bit.”