Tyanna Belle burns brightest in Queensland Flame

By Alex Nolan

The lure of $1 million to the winner at The Meadows later this month doesn’t faze husband and wife trainers Doug and Heather Gladman.

Simply the thrill associated with winning Thursday’s Listed Queensland Flame with Tyanna Belle and the recognition she gained out of doing so, was more than enough.

Doug (80) and Heather (79) were left speechless moments after Tyanna Belle defied her market expectations as the outsider of the field to win the $60,000 feature.

In doing so the ‘little engine that could’ booked a trip to Melbourne for the $1.65 million The Phoenix to represent Racing Queensland’s slot.

“I’ve addressed a room full of people at the World Health Organization but I struggled to find the right words in front of 100 people in the grandstand tonight,” Doug admitted.

“It’s a wonderful feeling.

“I feel quite humble actually, because we raced against the best, I feel, in Queensland.”

Tyanna Belle scraped into her heat last Thursday as the first reserve and endured a wide run for much of the 520 metre contest, before running third behind fastest qualifier Shipwreck to book a spot in the Flame Final for a second straight year.

Despite drawing favourably in box two at last week’s draw, the 25.4kg bitch opened $31 with TAB and touched $41, before going off at $26.

Tyanna Belle jumped cleanly from box two and found the early lead over Tungsten Miss to her inside, with the heavily supported second favourite Jay Is Jay ($4.20) in hot pursuit.

Trouble at the first turn saw race favourite Shipwreck and third-favourite De Ferran checked out of the race, while Springtime Storm came down.

On a night when many struggled to make up significant ground in the wet conditions, Tyanna Belle found herself free rolling out in the lead.

“I started screaming when she went past the catching pen, hoping she’d continue the trip in front,” Heather said.

“I knew she had to lead. She likes leading and box two suited her down to the ground.”

Tyanna Belle extended her lead down the back and while Jay Is Jay loomed as a threat approaching the home turn, the diminutive chaser’s strength told late as she held on to score by 3.75 lengths in 30.17 seconds.

Tungsten Miss finished another 1.5 lengths away in third, with a further 5.25 lengths back to Shipwreck in fourth.

“For tonight’s race I freshened her up slightly and I began to panic on the turn,” Doug said.

“I was thinking ‘my god, I hope she doesn’t throw down before the post’.

“We were lucky everything went our way and we won the race.

“To go off to Melbourne now and represent Queensland is a wonderful feeling and I can tell you, neither we nor the dog will let Queensland down.”

Doug and Heather must now cement their plans for Tyanna Belle’s trip to Melbourne, where she faces a daunting task against the likes of Wow She’s Fast and She’s A Pearl, just to name a very select couple.

Doug last week expressed his desire to race Tyanna Belle at The Meadows, given her knack for accelerating around turns.

Another ‘dream time’ victory in The Phoenix would see them collect $1 million in prize money.

So, what would that sort of money mean to the Elimbah couple?

“Not much,” Doug said.

“When you’re our age that sort of thing doesn’t matter.

“What counts to us is a satisfactory achievement.

“There are two things in racing – money and enjoyment. If you get either, it’s worth it. If you get both, it’s the ultimate and that’s the way we approach it.

“We got a great kick out of tonight and we also get a great kick out of anyone else we know who wins a race.”

It’s fair to say the rest of the industry might get a similar kick out of supporting Doug, Heather and Tyanna Belle on their journey to Melbourne.