Legendary boxing troupe showman Fred Brophy will marry his long-time sweetheart if the outback icon finally wins the Birdsville Cup he has craved for more than four decades.<\/p>\n
Brophy, 73, is staging his famous boxing tent at Birdsville for the last time but there is also another important reason he is back at the remote town on the edge of the Simpson Desert.<\/p>\n
He part-owns Birdsville Cup contender Victory Bay<\/a>, trained by Bevan \u2018Billy\u2019 Johnson from Barcaldine who is most renowned for training now retired bush legend Fab\u2019s Cowboy who won more races than any other racehorse in the modern era.<\/p>\n \u2022 PUNT LIKE A PRO<\/a>: Become a Racenet iQ member<\/a> and get expert tips \u2013 with fully transparent return on investment statistics \u2013 from Racenet\u2019s team of professional punters at our Pro Tips<\/a> section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!<\/a><\/p>\n Brophy has had countless Birdsville Cup runners over the decades, but the race has been the nut he has never been able to crack.<\/p>\n And he has had plenty of motivation to win the iconic race because of a promise his partner Sandi made to him many moons ago.<\/p>\n \u2022 \u2018I was the only female jockey\u2019: Birdsville Cup trailblazer returns as trainer<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cFour decades ago we came out here and I proposed to her,\u201d Brophy says, with a chuckle and a glint in his eye.<\/p>\n \u201cShe said \u2018I\u2019m not marrying you, because you drink too much\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cBut she said she would marry me if I gave up the drink or won the Birdsville Cup.<\/p>\n \u201cI said \u2018well, I will have a go at the Birdsville Cup\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been trying to win it ever since.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I win the Cup, she\u2019s got to marry me, that\u2019s what has got to happen. <\/p>\n \u201cThere is even a marriage celebrant out here.\u201d <\/p>\n It has often been a case of so close but yet so far for Brophy, one of Australia\u2019s last great showmen, as horses he has owned have finished runner-up and third in Birdsville Cups.<\/p>\n Seven-year-old gelding Victory Bay is a $15 chance to win Saturday\u2019s outback event and have wedding bells ringing in Brophy\u2019s ears.<\/p>\n His love affair with Sandi might have kicked off at the Brisbane Exhibition, but it grew wings in Birdsville.<\/p>\n \u2022 Ex-miner starts new chapter for outback racing dynasty<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI met her at the Exhibition and I had a House Of Wax there and I used to go the member\u2019s restaurant at night for a bottle of wine to just get away from everything,\u201d Brophy recalls.<\/p>\n \u201cShe happened to come out and serve me and I told her I was a showman and I gave her a couple of tickets to the House Of Wax. <\/p>\n \u201cI was very proud of the wax house and I asked her what she thought and she said she thought it was a heap of sh-t.<\/p>\n \u201cThe next week, I said I was going to the races and I asked her if she wanted to come.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t tell her the races were in Birdsville, but I asked her to pack a little travelling bag.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were going up the range in Toowoomba and she said \u2018where are we going\u2019?<\/p>\n \u201cI told her we were going to Birdsville and she didn\u2019t believe me.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen she finally believed me, we had driven so far we couldn\u2019t turn back.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been together ever since.\u201d <\/p>\n So does the fourth-generation showman whose boxing troupe has become part of outback folklore believe that he can crack his Birdsville Cup curse with Victory Bay?<\/p>\n My word he does.<\/p>\n But Brophy knows it will be a competitive race and harder to win than ever.<\/p>\n