Brisbane lawyer John de Groot boasts the naming rights to the richest goat race in the country. He speaks to Claire Chaffey

It's fair to say that riding a goat is not everyone's cup of tea. After all, riding goats - and in particular racing them - can be a perilous pursuit, with feisty goats sometimes making a break for it and trampling over a spectator or two as they head for the greenest patch of grass outside the racetrack.

But for Brisbane-based wills and estates specialist John de Groot, goat racing is much more than a cup of tea: it is a joy and a passion.

An established and well-respected author and practitioner in Queensland's legal community, de Groot makes no secret of the fact he is an avid goat racing fan. Having spent much of his childhood in the tiny town of Barcaldine in outback Queensland, this perhaps comes as no surprise, especially considering de Groot was the jockey of what was once considered "the fastest goat in the west".

"My goat, Thunder, was a fantastically fast goat," says de Groot.

"But the other advantage I had was that the finish line was in direct line with our house, so he always took off in a straight line heading for home, which is what goats do."

Unfortunately for de Groot, his childhood days of goat racing glory eventually came to an abrupt end.

"One day someone suggested to the goat racing official that the race should be run in the opposite direction. I thought, 'I hope Thunder doesn't still head for home.' But of course he did, and as soon as the whistle went he reared, swung around and took off full-pelt for home, much to the enjoyment of the crowd and to my absolute embarrassment and disheartenment. It was the only race Thunder lost," sighs de Groot.

With such legendary status as a goat racer, it is no wonder de Groot has recently injected $2000 into the annual Barcaldine goat races - establishing the John de Groot Cup - in an attempt to revive the sport by making it the richest goat race in the country.

"It has rejuvenated remarkably. We have now had three goat racing carnivals over the last three years and this year was bigger and better than ever," he says.

"We had goats coming from all over the country and there were 40 goats in the competition. As for a revival, I would say that it has already occurred. It is really going well."

Such is de Groot's passion for the sport, he recently published a book titled Memoirs of a Goat Racer & More, which is a rollicking account of life in the bush and all the adventures that come with it.

Originally penned at the request of his children who enjoyed hearing of their father's rough-and-tumble childhood, the book contains many a tale and anecdote of an era gone by.

"I'd been nagged by the kids to write down all the stories I had told them of growing up in Barcaldine which they enjoyed because it was so different to what they had experienced as city kids," he says.

"When I was writing the third edition of the Family Provision in Australia legal text ... I needed a bit of a break from the heavy writing ... so I turned my hand to those stories. I kept adding to them and then I thought I'd put it together in a book. That's how it really happened."

One story gracing the pages is the tale of ill-fated Piggy, the little black piglet inherited by the de Groot family when they moved into their new Barcaldine home.

"When we arrived, we heard squealing coming from half a tank buried in the garden and there was a little black pig looking up at us saying, 'Feed me!'" says de Groot.

"Eventually, he started escaping from the tank because he got so big. He ultimately disgraced himself by turning up in the lounge room at one of my Mother's afternoon tea parties, so after that the butcher took him away. Unfortunately, he returned to us as selected cuts."

Despite such incidents, de Groot says his childhood put him in good stead for a happy and successful career, and he now holds several demanding positions including Chair of the Queensland Law Society's Succession Law Committee, Advisory Committee on Specialist Accreditation (Succession Law) of the Queensland Law Society, Adjunct Professor in Law at the T. C. Beirne School of Law at the University of Queensland, and Chair of the Queensland Community Foundation.

But it is clear where de Groot's true passion lies, as he describes the result in this year's John de Groot Cup - which was a photo finish with only a beard in it - as a "thrilling finish to the day".

"No kidding," says de Groot. "These are ... very serious races."