Al goes pink for cancer awareness

Despite openly admitting he’s doing it a bit tough at the moment, popular Queensland harness racing trainer Alastair Barnes still has a big heart.

Barnes, based at Tallegalla, 60kms from Brisbane, has thrown his support behind Breast Cancer Awareness Month which takes place every October.

“Most of us have been touched by cancer by some way or another. It was just a spur of the moment thing that I thought I’d like to do—but the response has been overwhelming,” Barnes said.

“I’ll be honest and say that I was thinking if I could raise about $1000, I’d be more than happy. Word got out through social media, and it only took a couple of hours for more than $1300 to be pledged. Trainer-driver/farrier Dan Russell jumped on board with a donation of $500 and that really got things rolling, which was awesome,” he said.

The fundraising effort has fired the imagination of the harness racing community, with some creative challenges being suggested on social media to boost the coffers.

“Shaun Gillespie has promised to tip in $200 if I dye my hair pink – there were a couple of others wanting me to parade around wearing a pink tutu, but there’d need to be some outstanding donations before that happens!” Barnes laughed.

He said a few years ago, he teamed up with well-known Sky Racing media personality Gareth Hall as part of a breast cancer awareness night, conducted at the Albion Park Paceway by the club.

“I was dressed in all-pink, and Gareth was as well, apart from wearing a white shirt. It was great fun and hopefully we spread the word that funding research is a really important part of the fight,” Barnes said.

“I have been battling with a few issues lately, but I have found over the years that the best thing is to focus on something else, so that’s what I decided to do.

“A friend lost her father to cancer a few years ago so if I can help someone else, it’s a distraction and I’ll be wearing a smile.”

Barnes said while he started thinking about a fundraiser, he was keen to raise donations for any form of cancer.

“But it’s Breast Cancer Awareness month, so it seemed to make sense to work for that, so that’s what I’m doing.”

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia, with official figures showing that eight people are losing their lives to the disease each day.

The dual-coded trainer said most people in both standardbred and thoroughbred industries would have been impacted with a friend or family member battling cancer, and donations had come in from friends and associates in both equine industries.

Barnes said he was in the process of setting up a link to allow all donations to be registered and acknowledged, and anyone wanting more information could contact him through social media.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s just $10 or $20, it all goes to research to improve what’s known about how breast cancer can grow and spread, so that we can stop it,” he said.

“And it would also be awesome if as many people as possible attending the Albion Park meeting on the last Saturday of the month could turn up in pink to show their support.”

And who knows, if not a pink tutu, maybe the Al Barnes pink suit will make another appearance!

Terry Gange

NewsAlert PR Mildura