Belfords balance home wins with feature hopes

By Jordan Gerrans

The Belford clan know the Redcliffe surface like the back of their hand and came within a half-head of a memorable treble on their home deck last week.

Trainer Debra and driving son Dean grabbed an early double at ‘The Triangle’ on Thursday of last week before Im Busted ran into second shortly after.

The 36-year-old Dean laughed that it has been a long time between drinks since the racing family had such a run of success on the same program.

The Belfords have just four in work at Redcliffe, with Dean’s father Mark also a key part of the process. 

Mark is also the long-time track manager at Redcliffe.

“They do all the hard work, they do all the stuff at home, my parents,” Dean said.

“I only pretty much jump on race day these days, so I need to give them a wrap. They do all the hard yards.

“Probably the thing really going for me is, I like to think I know my horses pretty well and what they're capable of and try and drive them to their ability.

“I try not to overdrive them too much because they aren't superstars where you can go and sit parked all the time. So, that's what I find works for us.

“I like to think I know our horses pretty well.”

While Im Busted just missed out, the Belfords recorded winners earlier in the day with Wehavtime and Emmaleen.

Emmaleen has won two of her last three at Redcliffe.

With a few months left to go in the 2026 season, Debra as a trainer is on the verge of posting double-figure winners for the first time in a term since the 2010-11 campaign.

“Im Busted, he just was probably short of a run on Thursday,” Dean said.

“He hadn't had a run for a month and probably just peaked a little bit late, but he found the line alright.

“The other ones, they are in the right grade at the minute.

“Emmaleen, she was going to be retired a few weeks ago, we were almost going to pull the pin on her. But, she came out the next week and won, so she lives to fight another day.

“She went off there for a little bit and I probably drove her a bit tough.

“I thought she wasn't going as good as what she probably should have been, but she's got a few issues now and she's a bit older.

“Mum and dad are still doing them one-percenters with her and that's helped her the last month or so.”

Dean is driving as a hobby these days for his parents while working on the side away from the racing game.

Redcliffe club president Mark McNee detailed the Belfords’ family history at the Queensland track, which goes back many generations. 

“The colours that Dean's using, they're his grandfather's colours, Rodney Belford,” McNee said.

“Rodney was a trainer before Mark came along and he ran a big stable at Knight Street in Redcliffe. Actually, at the complex where Mark is now, he had it all up there, Rodney.”

While the Belfords treasure their success on their home surface, they are also chasing feature honours across town.

Shes Crunchy is their current stable star and Dean believes she could be a contender in the upcoming The Starlights.

Raced by a close family friend of the Belford family, Shes Crunchy won four in a row in New Zealand before making the trip across to Australia.

In eight attempts for her new stable, she has won just once, but she has placed on six other occasions.

Shes Crunchy has placed in her two runs back from a break in October.

“She's the best one we've got,” Dean said.

“Obviously, she hasn't had much luck with draws and always seems to be the one doing the hard work.

“But, I think we'll see a better horse in the next couple of weeks. She just hasn't been quite right and there are a couple of little things to fix up.

“She'll be targeting them better races next month, the better mares' races.

“Those races are obviously going to be tough over the carnival, but the Forever Gold is probably her target for the end of the year.

“She had not had a race for six months and a couple of hard runs, sitting in the breeze.

“But, she's better than what she's shown the last couple of starts, that's for sure.

“It took her a couple of runs to get used to the racing here, with its harder miles, after coming from New Zealand, where the racing is longer, to shorter, sharper miles. But, she's adjusting. She'll be fine.”