‘Goose’ to keep flying at Capalaba after NAIDOC Week feature race win

By Pat McLeod

Low-flying greyhound Lose Your Cool, known around the kennels as ‘Goose’, certainly understands the ‘need for speed’.

The Jeff Crawford-trained chaser clicked his winning tally up to eight (with two placings) from 10 starts when he took out the NAIDOC Celebration Chase at Capalaba on Sunday.

Crawford, who explains the ‘Goose’ tag comes from a character in the Top Gun movie, says Lose Your Cool will be taking off solely from Capalaba, for the near-future anyway.

“I just can't find a good reason to leave Capalaba at the moment,” Crawford said.

‘Goose’ accounted for Blue Bertrum (trained by Jason Aylward) by one-and-three-quarter-lengths and Aston Serpens (Chris Brydon) in 19.66 seconds. 

“That race basically went to plan. He jumped nicely, was headed midway, but then I liked his desire to fight back and gain the lead again and kick clear," the winning trainer said. 

“That was his first step up to best eight company. So yes, a pleasing run and a nice time with a bit of a cross wind.

“While there are good races coming up at Capalaba, such as the straight track championships in August, and other good races there in between, there's just no reason to take him away from the track.

“The prize money is so good and he is so competitive up the straight - good, safe racing. We will stay put and just continue to race there.”

Crawford and wife Jane race a kennel of 18 dogs, with a further 12 at the pre-training stage, out of their base at Buccan, near Beenleigh.

All Lose Your Cool’s starts have been at Capalaba and while that won’t change for a while the Fabregas - Frosty Fantasy chaser will eventually be tested around ‘the circle’.

“He does run very good times when I have trialed him around the circle,” Crawford said. 

“There haven't been a lot of trials, but he has run blistering times. At some point we will try him on the circle. We will put him through his grades, possibly at Ipswich where he has trialed very well.

“Also, I have always had a strong liking for the grass track at Bundaberg. When I go up there I like to take a number of dogs to make the trip worthwhile and I think it would be a track that this dog would excel at.

“I am certainly not dismissing racing him around the circle track at some stage.”

Crawford said there was also a physical reason why he is reluctant to change a winning formula, which to date has reaped almost $22,000 in prize money.

“The dog has an enlarged pad on one of his back feet,” he said.

“I haven't been able to find the reason for the enlarged pad, but it means that his toe stands up off the ground a lot more than his other toes.

“I just wonder whether that will be some sort of a hindrance to him on the circle.

“Sometimes he does wander around a bit during racing and I do wonder if that enlarged pad does put him off balance a little bit.

“I have never had a dog with such a big pad. So that is just one of the reasons why we will stick to what is working.”

Crawford stayed home for Sunday’s 11-race Capalaba program while wife Jane handled ‘Goose’. To date this has proven to be a winning routine.

“Jane has handled this dog in every one but his first start,” he said.

“Jane has a special affinity with the dog. She does a lot of work with him and takes him to his races and he goes well for her.”

The Capalaba straight track has always played a key role in the Crawford’s preparation of their dogs.

“All our dogs are schooled at Capalaba,” Crawford said.

“After break-in they probably have their first 10 runs at that track before we go anywhere else.

“It is a good track for conditioning and to get a dog to balance up in racing.

“Also, racing there is a bit of a mental change from the arm lure at other tracks. Racing there keeps the dogs sparked up and interested.

“We have also had a lot of success at that track. It has been very kind to us.

“We hold the track record there (Leeroy Rogue in 19.22 seconds), which is something we value quite highly.

“Also, we enjoy racing there. That track has such a good vibe, relaxed, just a nice place to go.”

Sunday’s NAIDOC Celebration Chase race at Capalaba kicked off Racing Queensland’s NAIDOC Week celebrations.

There were a range of activities, including Welcome To Country and Smoking Ceremony with didgeridoo presented by the Koomurri Entertainment group.

“It is great how the industry celebrates NAIDOC Week,” Crawford said. 

“To win this feature race is really good.”

RQ’s NAIDOC Week celebrations will continue at Warwick’s thoroughbred meeting this Thursday (July 6) and Albion Park’s harness racing meeting on Saturday, July 15.

These celebrations are dedicated to acknowledging and respecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities in Queensland and forms part of RQ’s Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan.