{"id":119448,"date":"2025-09-06T21:46:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T21:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/119448\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T21:46:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T21:46:16","slug":"birdsville-races-attract-record-horse-and-trainer-nominations-in-143rd-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/119448\/","title":{"rendered":"Birdsville Races attract record horse and trainer nominations in 143rd year"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the Birdsville Races, fascinators come with fly nets and no one escapes without a thick layer of dust.<\/p>\n

Touted as the Melbourne Cup of the outback, the races attract a crowd of thousands to the remote Queensland town on the edge of the Simpson Desert.<\/p>\n

\"collage<\/p>\n

Novelty Fashions on the Field at the Birdsville Races.\u00a0 (ABC Western Qld: Hannah Walsh)<\/p>\n

This year, about 4,000 revellers, trainers and jockeys made the pilgrimage to Birdsville, which usually has a population of about 100.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The winning horse was owned by a syndicate of proud Queenslanders, ridden by 25-year-old Bailie Baker.\u00a0 (ABC Western Qld: Hannah Walsh)<\/p>\n

“Birdsville is a place that attracts people from across the country,” Birdsville Race Club vice president Gary Brook said.<\/p>\n

“It’s not just the event in Birdsville, but it’s about experiencing the whole of Australia on the way here.”<\/p>\n

\"Gary<\/p>\n

Gary Brook has never missed a Birdsville Races event.\u00a0 (ABC Western Qld: Hannah Walsh)<\/p>\n

Bucket list event<\/p>\n

People travel thousands of kilometres to tick the Birdsville Races off their bucket list.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Megan Latham made the trek with friends from regional New South Wales after surviving cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I had breast cancer, worst 12 months of my life, but here we are living life every day as it comes,” Ms Latham said.<\/p>\n

“Life’s too short just to sit around \u2026 it’s the trip of a lifetime, bucket list with all my friends and family.”The course was a rare spectacle for racegoers this year, with the dusty track framed by lush greenery and wildflowers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the road to Birdsville, the Channel Country is bursting with life after flooding across much of outback Queensland<\/a> earlier this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Channels<\/p>\n

The channel country has some colour after floods earlier in the year. (ABC Western Qld: Hannah Walsh)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Birdsville Track from South Australia is still cut because of that flooding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Normally you come out and it’s dirt and dust and nothing, but it’s actually beautifully green,” racegoer Karen Currier from Hervey Bay said.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got our caravans, we’ve taken about a week to get out here, then probably take another week and a half to get home and just have a look around out in the outback.”<\/p>\n

End of an era<\/p>\n

This year it is the end of an era for an iconic sideshow at the races, with Fred Brophy’s Boxing Troupe pitching its tent in Birdsville for the final time.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

This year was the last chance for racegoers in Birdsville to see Brophy’s infamous boxing tent.\u00a0 (Supplied: Peter Wallis)<\/p>\n

Mr Brophy has been stirring people to fight against his boxers at Birdsville for more than four decades.<\/p>\n

“It comes a time when enough is enough \u2026 it gets hard and I’m 73 now, I can’t do it like I used to,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Brophy said he was not hanging up the gloves for good, but Birdsville would drop off the destination list for the travelling tent.<\/p>\n

\"Fred<\/p>\n

Fred Brophy has been bringing his boxing tent to Birdsville for decades.\u00a0 (ABC Western Qld: Hannah Walsh)<\/p>\n

“Of course I’ll be feeling emotional, I might even shed a tear, who knows?” he said.<\/p>\n

“I’m going to miss everyone. That’s why I’ve got to come back without the tent.”<\/p>\n

Boost to registrations<\/p>\n

After low numbers in recent years, the event had double the number of horses and trainers registered this year.<\/p>\n

Horse trainer John Keys said increased prize money and a new sprint on the program had attracted a wider field.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

John Keys brought horses from King Island in Tasmania for the races.\u00a0 (ABC Western Qld: Heidi Sheehan)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

He and his team travelled from Tasmania, bringing the first horses from that state to the Birdsville races in the event’s 143-year history.<\/p>\n

“It would be a four or five-day drive, and that’s without the overnight on the ship,” Mr Keys said.<\/p>\n

“Town’s nice, the bloody flies are driving me crazy.”<\/p>\n

\"Horses<\/p>\n

There were 13 races across two days.\u00a0 (ABC Western Qld: Heidi Sheehan)<\/p>\n

Help for surrounding towns<\/p>\n

Nearby towns are also able cash in on passing traffic and come up with their own ways to get travellers to spend a night or two.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Windorah, the International Yabby Races draw a crowd and raise funds for town infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The yabby races at Windorah have been going since 1998.\u00a0 (Supplied)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

“The town needs it. It’s good for each town to have something,” Western Star Motel owner Marilyn Simpson said.<\/p>\n

“It’s yabbies, not horse races, but everyone loves to have a bet.<\/p>\n

\"Marilyn<\/p>\n

Marilyn Simpson and her husband Ian run the pub at Windorah.\u00a0 (ABC Western Qld: Heidi Sheehan)<\/p>\n

“It’s crazy money. People come out to put money into the outback and into our town.”<\/p>\n

Mr Brook said the Birdsville Races were vital to the outback economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It brings 50,000 to 70,000 visitor nights and they’re camping, spending money on all the communities en route, and that’s what makes the races so great,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the Birdsville Races, fascinators come with fly nets and no one escapes without a thick layer of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[57035,57039,57036,57038,3004,101,57037,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-119448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-birdsville-races","tag-fred-brophys-boxing-tent","tag-outback-economy","tag-outback-queensland","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-travelling-to-the-birdsville-races","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}