Bob Burow was the only Mount Isa trainer to send a horse to Birdsville and he was duly rewarded when The Brotherhood scored an easy win on Saturday.

Ridden a treat by Gary Geran, the $1.40 favourite was steady out of the gates in the 0-50 Handicap over 1020m but showed a brilliant turn of foot to take over the lead and raced away for an eight-length victory.

The two-day meeting was more like a circus.

Firstly, the leading trainer and jockey at Birdsville were banned from competing due to a photograph taken accidentally by a southern snapper (see Page 3 of the issue).

The fields were already tiny before Todd Austin had to scratch his horses, but they continued to dwindle as rain hit the region.

Mount Isa trainer Denise Ballard scratched her runners, more in fear of the team getting stuck in Birdsville, as the committee pushed its Friday meeting to the Sunday and delayed the start of the Cup meeting on Saturday.

Graders were still trying to fix the track at 1pm on Saturday, with reports that it was like concrete underneath, backed up by the super fast times the horses ran.

“It’s like they have one rule for Birdsville and one rule for the rest of us,” said a prominent racing figure in the North West.

“When we had our TAB meeting we thought we might only get four runners in one race. We were told that five were needed.

“At Birdsville, they had four-horse races and, after scratchings, they even had a two-horse race. It’s a joke, really.

“The track is another issue. If any other club presented a track like Birdsville did on Saturday they would be barred from racing.”

Racing in the North West heads to Cloncurry this Saturday, while Bedourie down south also hosts its annual meeting.

The Curry has attracted good nominations for its five-race card, with the Open Plate over 1200m likely to boast a strong field.

Entries for the Bedourie program were extended due to small numbers, but the program should go ahead with six races.

This article appeared in North West Weekly, 8 September 2022.