A record crowd of punters has converged on the edge of Queensland’s Simpson Desert for the sport of kings, mates and memories at the Birdsville Races.
The iconic two-day carnival, known as the Melbourne Cup of the outback, will see a record 130 horses from 31 trainers take to the dirt track.
Revolt and champion bush rider Kody Nestor stormed home Friday to win the inaugural $40,000 Akubra Big Red 1000-metre sprint.
Birdsville Race Club Vice President Gary Brook said the new sprint had re-shaped the carnival.
“We know the Akubra Big Red race helped draw the record number of entries this year,” he said.
“It was a hotly contested race and there was a real buzz amongst trainers and jockeys in the lead-up.”
A full field of 12 horses will race in Saturday’s $60,000 TAB Birdsville Cup from as far away as Tasmania, Forbes, Nyngan, Darwin, Adelaide, Mt Isa, Toowoomba and Mackay.
Birdsville’s magic
But it’s not necessarily the sport of kings that’s brought thousands from every corner of Australia to one of the most remote thoroughbred carnivals in the world.
Friends and former neighbours Jacki Tran and Gracelyn Chipperfield, from the Queensland coast, travelled to the races to honour their late husbands, neither of whom got the chance to visit Birdsville.
“It was always in our plans,” Tran told AAP of her late husband.
“But he passed and I’m here to say, ‘I’ve got this babe’.”
For Murray Dunlop and Laurie Driscoll, a trip to the races is a celebration of their lifelong friendship, first forged six decades ago as schoolboys in Leeton, in the NSW Riverina.
They travelled together from northern NSW, taking in the outback Queensland pit stops of Roma, Quilpie and Betoota on the dusty trek to Birdsville.
“Everywhere we’ve been, the people have been so friendly,” Dunlop said.
Driscoll added: “That’s bush people. You say g’day to someone in the city and they’d think you’re funny.”
Many punters have taken the necessary long way around to town, with flooding closing much of the major 517km arterial Birdsville Track that traverses three deserts and two states.
Those coming from the southern states have swapped a 1200km journey up the track from South Australia for a 1600km trek via Broken Hill and Tibooburra in western NSW.
Birdsville Race Club vice president Gary Brook said it wasn’t the first time weather and patchy road conditions had presented challenges, but that was all part of the event’s unique charm.
“Life isn’t always easy in the outback,” Brook told AAP.
“If you wanted to go to a race meeting where everything was the same and everything was perfect, you could probably go to one of those in the city.
“I would guarantee that if people have been to the Birdsville Races, and another 20 race meetings over the last 20 years, I don’t think they could recall those meetings in the same way they could with Birdsville.”
Crowds took in the first day of racing on Friday, with groups of friends and family wearing matching outfits, costumes and even the odd sequin in the 32C heat.
The event began in 1882 as a small meet for 150 stockmen and horse owners.
It has since exploded into an iconic event that attracts 60 times the ordinary local population of 100 people.
Staff at the Birdsville Hotel, a classic country pub built in 1884, started planning for the huge influx of visitors as early as June.
“The races, without a doubt, is our absolute favourite week of the year,” hotel manager Ben Fullagar told AAP.
“It’s a homegrown, local event that is very important to the town and the community, which means it’s very important to us.”
This article was made possible by support from the Birdsville Race Club.
No flies on fashionable
With big buzzing blowflies, plumes of red dust and soaring outback temperatures, Birdsville Races fashion flouts the rules in favour of practicality and fun.
Ladies and gentlemen are expected to maintain a suitable standard at many city race meets, with sneakers, thongs, singlets and exposed midriffs strictly prohibited.
Those standards are fervently flouted at the Birdsville Races, where punters come to break all the rules.
Black and green fly nets are the classic and practical look for most spectators hoping to avoid ingesting the insects, affectionately known as outback sultanas.
Michael Wood, from Logan Reserve in Brisbane, said his group of friends were styled by a kindly woman in Windorah on their way to Birdsville.
“The lady told us, ‘whatever you do, make an investment in a fly net for your head’,” he told AAP.
Wood could not bring himself to wear the flowing netted accessory, instead opting for jeans, boots and a flannelette shirt.
“I got up this morning and I just couldn’t do it, myself,” he said of the fly net.
“The flies in Brisbane aren’t quite as bad as this. They’re a little more manageable.
“But I don’t think they’re too bad here – the breeze is blowing them away and we’re going pretty good.”
Brisbane dads Terry Gurr, Mal Shepherd and Simon Lee were among a group of friends wearing loud floral tuxedos, bought from an international atelier possibly called Temu.
“We were at a concert, it was pouring down rain and we were thinking, what could we do as a gag for the races?” Shepherd said.
“We got online and came up with this, ordered them and here we are.”
Lee said it was “surprisingly cool” wearing a suit in the Simpson.
“It’s high-quality polyester and it’s breathing well at the moment,” Lee said, as the temperature soared above 30C.
Punters were also spotted wearing board shorts, chesty singlets, matching novelty shirts, gumboots, hiking shoes and – shock horror – even Crocs.
A group of mates wore matching shirts emblazoned with: “I like beer and horse racing and maybe three people.”
Jackie Burrage, from the Gold Coast, opted for a more traditional look, with a small black fascinator and elegant drop earrings, though her shiny cowboy boots put her squarely in Birdsville.
Burrage said her first visit to the outback event informed her race wear.
“If it was my second time, I’d probably be more adventurous,” she said.
“I probably did stick to tradition because it was my first time and that bothers me – I’m out there and don’t care what people think.”
This AAP article was made possible by support from the Birdsville Race Club
—with AAP
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