Sir Barefoot heads back to Capalaba

By Josh Spasaro

It’s a good thing John Thompson never ended up sending Sir Barefoot north – not just for himself, but for his family.

The two-year-old dog will jump from box seven in the Trevor McSherry Classic up the Capalaba straight on Sunday.

He will take good form into the $3,600 feature, with two wins from his past five starts.

But, his Spring Creek conditioner almost sent him to Central Queensland trainer Christine Pollard.

That was until he had a change of mind following a victory.

“I actually gave him to Christine Pollard. I said, ‘I’m going to start him at Capalaba before I send him up to you and you can have him up there for a while’,” Thompson said.

“And, then when he won, I rang Christine back and said, ‘hey Christine, you’re going to have to wait for him’.

“I get along well with Christine. I said ‘sorry, but he’s going too good to send away now’.

“He went a bit ordinary his next start. Then he went 19.69 seconds. So, it hasn’t worried him too much.”

Thompson is also delighted he held onto his black chaser because it has brought his father Dave a lot of joy.

“My dad is not well and he can’t get around now. So, he loves to watch the dogs on TV,” he said.

“If you want the truth, that’s why I still do it because (partner) Simone’s family and my family, they all watch the dogs.

“I go down once a week and we spend one day a week with him. We catch up on how the dogs are going.

“If you’re bringing someone joy, you’re doing all right.” 

Sir Barefoot – by West On Augie and out of Blanco Caliente – has seven wins from 28 starts.

A feature of his recent racing has been the tenacity he has been showing inside the final 50 metres at Capalaba.

Thompson said working alongside him has helped give his honest chaser an extra spring in his step when finishing races.

“The thing we found with him at home here, we work them over 600 metres on a sand straight,” he said.

“We let them come back on their own, but the last 50 metres, I catch up with them.

“And, I make him work the last 50 metres. We’ve noticed at Capalaba, if they get to him within 50 metres out, he just digs deep.

“He’s beat some nice quality dogs in that last 50 metres because they think they’ve got him and they haven’t.

“He likes Capalaba. He’s only had 11 starts there for five wins and three placings.

“He goes all right. He’s just a trier. He’s a full brother to Barefoot Elsa, who was a very good bitch.”

Thompson said Sir Barefoot will not mind starting from box seven at Capalaba on Sunday.

He has twice won at the venue from the eight lane for the experienced conditioner.

“It doesn’t bother him. At Capalaba, I don’t care what box he gets. He’s gone well from every box at Capalaba,” he said.

Like Sir Barefoot, Thompson likes to go under the radar with little fanfare or attention.

But, he does love a Sunday out at Capalaba and winning is always a nice little bonus.

“We rear our own – we don’t rear anyone else’s. But, we’ve got everything on the property that we need to train the dogs properly,” he said.

“We’ve got our own straight tracks and everything else we need like rearing yards.

“We’re just your average people trying to win a couple of races each week, if we can, for the little guy. We’re not the big guy into $60,000 or $70,000 dogs. We breed, race and rear all our own.

“He’s just a little average dog who keeps trying each week. And, whatever we get out of it, we’re enjoying it.”