Australia’s most iconic outback meet
Announcement: Spring downfall causes one day postponement of iconic Birdsville Races
Birdsville Race Club, Media Release, 26 July 2022
The countdown to the historic 140th anniversary edition of the Birdsville Races is on, with just over five weeks until the ‘Melbourne Cup of the outback’ reignites the tiny desert town on the edge of the Simpson Desert with thousands of revellers for an outback party and race carnival like no other.
Starting as a humble bush meet in 1882, the now iconic Birdsville Races have evolved over more than a century to become a bucket list experience for intrepid travellers, racing enthusiasts, grey nomads and culture vultures alike.
The tiny township of Birdsville – home to a general population of just 115 residents – swells to host thousands for a renowned two-day 13-race carnival, as well as a bumper program of unique wild, wacky and colourful outback entertainment and activities.
From Fred Brophy’s legendary travelling boxing troupe – the last of its kind in the word, to Fashions on the Field, and motley festivities in and around the famous Birdsville Hotel, the Races transport punters into a bygone era of true-blue Australiana in the heartland of the spectacular outback.
Looking back at 140 years of the Birdsville Races
As we saddle up for the 140th anniversary of the Birdsville Races on September 2 & 3, let’s also look back at some of the historic moments, milestones and characters that have made Australia’s oldest and most iconic outback race meet the force it is today.
From the Birdsville Cup’s’ first ever female winners and ambassadors to race-stopping outback deluges, horse flus, Prime Minister visits and a global pandemic – here are some memorable moments from 140 years of the Birdsville Races.
1882 – The first Birdsville Races is held
The Birdsville Races have an auspicious start for a horse race that now tops so many peoples’ bucket-list. In Spring 1882, a group of 150 owners, managers and stockmen converge on the South Australian and Queensland border, and the first ‘unofficial’ Birdsville Races is run.
The racetrack on which the first Birdsville Races was run is very different from the track today. Turn back the clock 140 years, and you’d find a straight-lined track marked with posts 200m apart – more of a fence-line than anything else.
Forget barriers and a starting gun, the 1882 Races start with a flag or cable-raise to the applause of a crowd 150 punters strong – hardly the thunderous sound of clapping and hooves that you hear today. The meet’s headline Border Handicap is taken out by the W&W Hood trained Bedouin.
A far cry from the $200,000+ prize-purse up for grabs at this September’s Birdsville Races, back then, nearly 200 pounds was raised by public subscription, which was enough to draw a crowd.
In late September 1882, after the first Birdsville Races is held, 42 people sit down in the Burt & Co iron store to establish the ‘Border Jockey Club’. Stewards are appointed, a working committee is elected, and the next race meeting is fixed for July 1883.
140 years on, the rest, as they say… is history.
1930s – The Birdsville Racetrack finds a new home
In the 1930s, the Birdsville Racetrack is moved from the western side of town to where it sits today – becoming the outback’s answer to Flemington. The track is 2000m in circumference with the longest race, the 1600m Birdsville Cup, starting in the back straight. Today, Birdsville remains one of only four tracks in Queensland that runs anti-clockwise.
1950s – Birdsville Race Club president, Dave Brook OAM, begins his journey with the Races
Current Birdsville Race Club President, David Brook OAM, recalls his earliest memory of the Birdsville Races. “My dad had a horse called Mookadee, which ran third in 1957,” David recalls. “That was my last year at school in Birdsville and, in those days, there were probably only 150-200 people at the Races.”
David has acted as either Birdsville Race Club President or Secretary for close to 50 years (and counting!) – but his pathway into the role wasn’t entirely by choice. “My uncle Bob was the President of the Birdsville Race Club for many years and, one day, I remember he was leaving town and handed me a leather bag with all the Race Club documents in it. He said, “you’d better hold onto this” – and that’s how I got the job,” says David.
David and his family are a cornerstone of not just the Birdsville Races, but the town of Birdsville itself. As long-time cattle graziers, their connection to the western corner of Queensland is as deep as the channels you find in the region – going back generations. “On my mum’s side, our connection to Birdsville traces back to the 1880s,” notes David.
David has begun passing the baton down generations, with his son, Gary Brook, now acting as the Birdsville Race Club Vice President – an instrumental force behind the Races each year including September 2022. David’s daughter Jenna is also the Birdsville Race Club Treasurer, as well as owner and operator of the Birdsville Roadhouse, Humpy Cafe Birdsville Fuel Service and Post Office and Birdsville’s first Recycling Centre that was opened earlier this year.
All six of David and Nell Brook’s children have attended the Birdsville Races from a very young age, and their grandchildren are now growing up with the Races as part of their lives.
1962 – Indigenous stockman Kevin ‘Spinny’ Monaghan rides his first Birdsville Races
Indigenous stockman Kevin ‘Spinny’ Monaghan rides in his first Birdsville Cup, aged 18. The 140th anniversary edition of the Races this September will mark a 60 year association between Spinny and the iconic outback carnival.
Spinny would go on to ride as an amateur jockey until 1979 when he got his professional licence at the Birdsville track. He never managed to take out a Birdsville Cup win, but he did come close – placing second.
When Spinny started riding at the Birdsville Race track, there were only open fields and a little shed – and only about 400 metres of fencing around the desert track. There were no barriers – horses would line up in starting gates and a one finger rope drop across the front of the horses would signal the race start.
“I didn’t ride every year but I’ve attended the Races nearly every year since I started riding in Birdsville, and I’ll be back again this year,” said the Diamantina local.
The Monaghans have a rich association with the Birdsville Races, with Spinny’s granddaughter, model Venessa Harris, acting as a race ambassador in 2018 and 2019. His son, David, has ridden two Birdsville Cup winners; Pensami in 1997 for the Brook family and Amirreb in 1999 for NSW trainer Rodney Robb.
1966 – Birdsville’s resident Queensland Parks and Wildlife Ranger Don Rowlands OAM attends his first Birdsville Race meet
Don Rowlands hadn’t missed a Birdsville Races in 56 years until the COVID cancellations and postponements of recent years. He is a descendent of the Watti Watti family and is a Wangkangurru Yarluyandi elder, and has discovered numerous leftbehind sites and artefacts from when his people moved out of the Munga-Thirri National Park – also known as the Simpson Desert – around 120 years ago.
An Aboriginal elder in the Birdsville community, Don plays an integral role in preserving the culture and history of his people and their life in the Simpson Desert – from songlines, Dreamtime stories and artefacts from stone tools to fighting shields, burial grounds and humpies.
He has worked with an archaeologist, anthropologist and linguist to add to the known history of his people, which is largely unrecorded, and gave a Welcome to Country at the Birdsville Races in April 2022.
Don and his wife, Lyn, also recently opened the Karrawa Wirinya coffee place in Birdsville that is also an Indigenous ‘keeping place’ and space in which to showcase Indigenous artwork.
1978 – Australia’s PM attends the Birdsville Races for the first time; Fred Brophy’s famous travelling boxing troupe arrives in town
Australia’s sitting Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser AC makes the pilgrimage to Birdsville Races – thrusting the remote outback carnival into the national psyche. Fraser’s visit marks the first time an Australian Prime Minister attends the Races and helps cement the event as a rite of passage for Australians wanting to experience a true outback event.
Fred Brophy’s famous travelling boxing troupe also attends the Birdsville Races for the first time, challenging punters to take their shot in Brophy’s now legendary boxing tent.
A fourth-generation showman, Fred and his boxing troupe — the last of its kind in the world — have become synonymous with the Birdsville Races. Fred says he owes much of his success to the Birdsville Races, which he chose as the location for his first date with Sandi, his long-term partner, some 37 years ago – and he hasn’t missed a Birdsville Races since.
Fred has a longstanding promise to Sandi that, if he wins a TAB Birdsville Cup, he’ll “make an honest woman out of her” and propose. Indeed, a Brophy Birdsville Cup win could be on the cards – he won the Betoota Cup in 2019 and had a horse place third in the Birdsville Cup in 2009. Fred will return with his iconic boxing troupe to the Birdsville Races this September.
Fred added the first female boxer to his troupe in 2010, a young Brisbane-born woman named Brettlyn Neal who was working as a security guard at the Birdsville Pub. Brettlyn headed over to the Brophy tent and took her shot in the ring, going undefeated for two consecutive nights, before Brophy approached her on the third night and told her “Nah, you fight for me now.”
From that point on, Brettlyn became ‘Beaver Brophy’. Since then, she has notched more than 200 fights and remained undefeated in Brophy’s boxing ring. She has never missed a Birdsville Races since her debut, and will return in September with her partner Abby, who will also box in Brophy’s tent.
1982 – Centenary year is celebrated with record crowds; A Birdsville Races legend is born
The Races celebrate their Centenary year with a huge celebration and record crowds of 7,000-8000.
The Brook family also win their first of six Birdsville Cups with the George Dawson trained Brashleigh. The late George Dawson (1932-2012) eventually became the most successful Birdsville Cup trainer of all time, winning seven Birdsville Cups in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1991, 1992, 1997 and 2000.
Speaking to the Birdsville Race Club in 2017, George’s daughter Cindy Monaghan said: ““I know he got a bigger thrill out of seeing the owners happy than actually winning the race for himself… Dad always said you can’t take any horse to Birdsville. The ideal horse is tough, relaxed, can travel in testing conditions and is a good eater. It has to run a good strong 1600 metres and also be able to handle the dirt track, not get bothered when there’s dirt flying in its face.”
Cindy says travelling to Birdsville with her parents became a rite of passage in their family. “We’d go up there a couple of weeks prior, so the horses could settle after the trip up to Birdsville from South Australia. I remember staying with friends along the way and the long haul up the Birdsville Track. They were great memories.”
George’s family have continued the Dawson legacy with the Birdsville Races since, with his late son, Tod, training his last winner in Birdsville in 2016 with Peritus in the colours carried by Brashleigh back in 1982. George’s grandson, Port Lincoln trainer Ryan Dawson, also fielded horses at the 2017 Races, including in the Birdsville Cup.
1985 – Birdsville’s beloved bookies takes his first bets
The Birdsville Races’ much-loved current day bookie, Graham Saunders, attends his first Birdsville Races. Graham has only missed one Birdsville Races since and will once again take bets at this September’s carnival.
“I’ll never forget the first time I came to the Birdsville Races until I turn 100,” says Graham. “It was mind blowing, planes everywhere, buses, people all over the place, you had to see it to believe it. It’s just a good old fashioned country carnival.”
Graham says betting at Birdsville has certainly changed over the years, as technology and infrastructure at the track has improved. “I remember in the old days; they used to have one payphone and you’d cue up with your 20 cents to get information on a horse and form a market,” he recalls. “When I first started, we’d all be flipping through the Australian racing calendar. You’d all sit around for a couple of weeks, going through the books.”
1990 – The Birdsville Race Club is named
The central body responsible for the Birdsville Races renames the Diamantina Amateur Race Club to its current name – the Birdsville Race Club – a name they hope will continue long into the future.
1992 – Birdsville nabs a race starter who won’t stop
Larry Lewis, a firefighter from Dalby, walks into Birdsville and becomes the longstanding starter of the Birdsville Races. Now, more than a quarter of a century on, Larry has started 28 Birdsville Cups..
“Birdsville Race Club President David Brook was asking the senior steward at the time who he’d recommend, and I’d started one or two country meets, so got the nod,” recalls Larry. “I’ve been coming back ever since – have barely missed one for 30 years.”
Larry says he always has to be on the ball, because at Birdsville, trainers and owners have often travelled more than a 1000 kms to get there. Larry notes the racing has improved a lot over the years, which makes his job a little easier. “My main concern is just keeping everyone safe. That can mean our own racing club volunteers, the jockeys and the horses too” he adds.
1993 – Australia’s now oldest jockey 69 year-old Keith Ballard rides in his first Birdsville Races
The now legendary bush jockey, Keith Ballard, begins a multi-decade affinity between his family and the outback carnival that continues today. He is now Australia’s oldest jockey and is planning to ride again in this September’s Birdsville Cup.
Keith, who has raced for over 50 years, has ridden in more than 15 Birdsville Races – as recently as 2019 when he rode in the Birdsville Cup. He took out the Birdsville Cup in 2009 on Equitant.
Keith’s wife, Denise, and son, Dan, also have a strong connection to the Birdsville Races, with Denise having trained many of the Birdsville starters that both Keith and Dan have ridden over the years. Dan, a former Queensland Country’s Premier Jockey, has ridden in the Birdsville Cup several times.
The Ballard family were inducted into the Queensland Racing Hall of Fame In 2021. After missing the postponed 2021 event held in April 2022, all three will make a grand return to the Birdsville Races in September 2022, with father and son both planning to ride horses that ex-jockey Denise has trained.
1995 – The Birdsville Races are broadcast live for the first time on TV
The Birdsville Races are broadcast live on television for the first time on Sky Channel. It would be 20 years until it returned to live TV screens and is now a fixture on Sky Channel’s coverage of Australian racing beamed live to lounge rooms and pubs across Australia and streamed online across the globe.
1999 – Birdsville Races’ longstanding race caller takes the mic for the first time
Josh Fleming, now a Sky Racing caller, calls his first of 19 consecutive Birdsville Races at the age of 14.
Leading into the Birdsville Races, Josh had called only a handful of country race meetings around the central west Queensland region under the wing of the late John Wallis, a Queensland Racing stalwart who spent four decades as a steward. Wallis had noticed Josh’s ability after hearing him do a phantom call out of the Sunday newspaper form guide.
Fleming soon after got his call up for the Birdsville Races. “We were about six months out from the Birdsville Races that year and they didn’t have a caller,” Fleming reminisces. “They went looking for a caller and John said he knew this kid who was going okay and that he should be given a go. I walked away from my first Birdsville Races and thought ‘oh well, at least I did one’ and I didn’t think I’d be back again,”
This September will mark Fleming’s 20th Birdsville Races. After nearly two decades of attending the Races, Josh says it is the friends he has made that keeps him coming back. “It’s all about the people, the friendships I’ve forged here over the years. It’s so great to come out here and see our friends again and make the most of it,” he explains. “We are not here for a long time but a good time.” And indeed, it’s no lie – the best man at Josh’s wedding was long-time Birdsville Races starter Larry Lewis.
2001 – The Birdsville Cup is won by a female trainer for the first time
Tanya Parry becomes the first female trainer to win the prestigious Birdsville Cup, paving the way for a slew of female successes at the Races since. Tanya remains a trainer today and has fielded horses in the Birdsville Races as recently as 2019.
2003 – A female jockey takes out the Birdsville Cup for the first time
Rebecca Kerwin becomes the first female jockey to win the Birdsville Cup. Rebecca rates her winning ride on Marauding Lass as one of the toughest in her career. “I always wanted to try and win the Birdsville Cup and I never thought I’d actually get it,” she says. “I just remember the other riders being really tough, it was quite dry out there that weekend, but I’d had some success with the horse in Toowoomba. I think she was the oldest mare in the race, she was tough, a bigger horse, and I knew I had to go early, as it can get quite tough on the way out.”
Despite becoming the first female jockey to win the Birdsville Cup, Rebecca didn’t know about her historic effort until well after the race. “Birdsville Race Club President David Brook told me well after the race was finished. Until then, I had no idea,” she recalls. “It means a lot because it created history. It wasn’t the reason I went to race there, but it’s nice.”
2007 – The Races are cancelled due to equine flu
The Birdsville Races are called off due to equine flu.
2010 – The Birdsville Cup is cancelled due to rain
While the Races begin on Friday as planned, the Saturday Birdsville Cup is ultimately cancelled due to overnight rain and the state of the track.
2016 – The Races are condensed to Sunday due to rain; female jockey-trainer duo wins Birdsville Cup for the first time
A once-in-70-year 55mm September deluge hits Birdsville in the days preceding the 2016 Races, turning the iconic red Birdsville racetrack into sludge, and forcing the closure of all roads to and from the township. The Diamantina Shire Council works around the clock in a herculean effort to clear the track and ensure the Races aren’t a washout.
The Races are condensed into a ‘Super Sunday’ program, combining 11 highlight races from the originally scheduled Friday and Saturday competitions. The revised program makes for Australia’s biggest single thoroughbred race day of the year, outstripping Melbourne Cup day.
History is made again when the Birdsville Cup is taken out for the first time by a female trainer and jockey combination. Moore Alpha, trained by Heather Lehmann, is ridden to victory by Darwin jockey Kayla Cross.
2018 – The Races announce young indigenous model as first ever female ambassador
Indigenous model and cancer survivor Venessa Harris becomes the first ever female ambassador for the Birdsville Races.
Venessa’s family share a long and storied history with Birdsville and the Birdsville Races. Not only was Venessa born in the region, but her grandparents live in Birdsville and her grandfather, Kevin (Spinny) Monaghan, and uncle, David (Ted) Monaghan, have ridden in the Birdsville Cup.
2020 – COVID forces cancellation of the Birdsville Races for the second time
The Birdsville Races are cancelled due to COVID.
2021 – Another COVID-related postponement
Due to COVID outbreaks and restrictions, the Races are postponed to April 2022, creating a historic double race meeting in 2022.
April 2022 – The Races return after three-year hiatus
Returning for the first time since 2019, the Races are held as a history-making one-off in April as the makeup event for the postponed 2021 Races. The April 2022 Birdsville Races offered a record combined prize-purse of $262,500 across two days of racing, as well as what is believed to be the single biggest trainer bonus in the history of Country racing in Queensland.
Barcaldine (QLD) trainer Todd Austin comfortably wins the iconic 1600m TAB Birdsville Cup with thoroughbred Echo Point, ridden by female jockey Brooke Richardson (Barcaldine, QLD). In doing so, Austin nabs his third Birdsville Cup career victory and becomes the most successful Birdsville Cup trainer since 2000 – with three of the last eight Birdsville Cup wins.
TV personality Sammie O’Brien is announced as the ambassador for both the history-making April and September 2022 Birdsville Race events.
September 2 & 3, 2022 – The Races return for their 140th edition
The iconic township of Birdsville – home to a general population of just 115 residents – will once again swell to host thousands for the 140th anniversary edition of the Birdsville Races.
The carnival will feature 13 races over two days, plus a bumper program of unique outback entertainment and activities including Fashions on the Field, outdoor film and live music, cocktail parties, pub festivities and Fred Brophy’s famous travelling boxing troupe.
Much-loved television personality Sammie O’Brien will return as ambassador for the 2022 Birdsville Races, and trainers who contest both the April and September Races could potentially bag some of the biggest bonuses in the history of Country racing in Queensland. If April TAB Birdsville Cup winner Todd Austin goes on to win the Cup again, he will receive up to $15,000 in bonuses.
The Birdsville Races are proudly supported by the Queensland Government, through Tourism and Events Queensland, and features on the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar.
Tickets to the September 2022 Birdsville Races are on-sale at www.birdsvilleraces.com. Tickets start from $44.40. Tickets to the OBE Pavilion are now sold out and limited tickets remain to the RFDS Birdsville Races Gala, set to be held on 1 September 2022.
A full list of Birdsville Cup winners can be found at www.birdsvilleraces.com/winners-circle
