The countdown to the historic 140th anniversary of the Birdsville Races is on. The ‘Melbourne Cup of the Outback’ will return to the tiny desert town on the edge of the Simpson Desert on September 2 and 3, with thousands of revellers anticipated to attend this huge party and race carnival in Birdsville.
The Birdsville Races have evolved over more than a century to become a bucket-list experience for travellers and racing enthusiasts alike, but the two-day carnival started from humble beginnings. These are just some of the historic moments, milestones and characters that have made this event the iconic experience it is now.
1882: THE FIRST BIRDSVILLE RACES
The Birdsville Races had 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 converged on the South Australian and Queensland border, and the first ‘unofficial’ Birdsville Races was held.
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.
These races began with a flag or cable-raise to the applause of a crowd of 150 punters strong – the meet’s headline Border Handicap was taken by the W&W Hood-trained Bedouin.
In late September 1882, after the first Birdsville Races is held, 42 people sat down in the Burt & Co iron store to establish the ‘Border Jockey Club’. Stewards were appointed, a working committee was elected, and the next race meeting was fixed for July 1883.
1930s: A NEW HOME
In the 1930s, the Birdsville Racetrack was 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: DAVID BROOK OAM
Current Birdsville Race Club president David Brook OAM began his journey with the event in the 1950s.
Recalling his earliest memory of the Birdsville Races, he said, “My dad had a horse called Mookadee, which ran third in 1957. 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 club resident 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.”
1962: KEVIN ‘SPINNY’ MONAGHAN
In 1962, indigenous stockman Spinny Monaghan rode 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 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 in one year.
When Spinny started riding at the Birdsville Race track, there were only open fields, a little shed, and only about 400m 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,” the Diamantina resident said.
1978: POLITICS AND BOXING
In 1978, Australia’s prime minister attended the races for the first time, and Fred Brophy’s famous travelling boxing troupe arrived in town.
Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser’s pilgrimage to Birdsville brought national attention to the remote carnival.
Meanwhile, Fred Brophy’s travelling boxing troupe challenged 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 event, 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 the races since.
1982: THE CENTENARY YEAR
The Birdsville Races celebrated its centenary with a huge celebration and record crowds of 7000-8000.
The Brook family won 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.
1985: BIRDSVILLE’S BELOVED BOOKIE
The Birdsville Races’ much-loved current-day bookie, Graham Saunders, attended his first Birdsville Races in 1985. 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,” Graham said. “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.”
1990: BIRDSVILLE RACE CLUB IS NAMED
The central body responsible for the Birdsville Races renamed the Diamantina Amateur Race Club to its current name, the Birdsville Race Club – a name they hope will continue long into the future.
1992: A RACE STARTER WHO WON’T STOP
In 1992, Larry Lewis, a firefighter from Dalby, walked into Birdsville and became the longstanding starter of the Birdsville Races. Now, more than a quarter of a century later, 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. My main concern is just keeping everyone safe. That can mean our own racing club volunteers, the jockeys and the horses too.”
1993: THE OLDEST JOCKEY
In 1993, the now legendary bush jockey, 69-year-old Keith Ballard, began 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. He took out the Birdsville Cup in 2009 on Equitant.
2001: FIRST FEMALE TRAINER TO WIN
In 2001, Tanya Parry became the first female trainer to win the 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: FIRST FEMALE JOCKEY TO WIN
In 2003, Rebecca Kerwin became 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 said. “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.”
APRIL 2022: RACING RETURNS
After a three-year hiatus – cancellations caused by covid – the races returned in April this year as a history-making one-off to make-up event for the postponed 2021 races.
The April 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 won the iconic 1600m Birdsville Cup with thoroughbred Echo Point, ridden by female jockey Brooke Richardson. In doing so, Austin nabbed his third Birdsville Cup career victory and became the most successful Birdsville Cup trainer since 2000, with three of the last eight Birdsville Cup wins.
More information: www.birdsvilleraces.com
