Birdsville puts on historic meeting despite wild weather

[Wandering Eyes]

The Birdsville racetrack underwent extensive repairs on Saturday morning and early afternoon after heavy rain late in the week left the surface in poor condition.

The Birdsville Race Club wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer on the weekend after 24mm of rain on the Wednesday and Thursday threatened to ruin its 140th anniversary celebrations.

For Birdsville that was three times its average rainfall for the month of September.

The iconic Birdsville Races, which are normally held on the first Friday and Saturday in September, had already been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in recent times.

It didn’t go ahead in 2020 or 2021, although the 2021 version was re-scheduled earlier this year on April 10-11.

Located 1580km west of Brisbane in the outback regions of Queensland, Birdsville is near the borders of South Australia and the Northern Territory on the edge of the Simpson Desert.

In the 2021 census it was revealed that Birdsville had a population of 110 people.

Come the start of spring, however, Birdsville captures the imagination of the Queensland and Australian racing public when it hosts its two meetings.

Normally, it’s Sprint Day on the Friday and Cup Day on the Saturday – and it’s not uncommon for horses to race on both days.

The weather is usually sunny, yet windy, and camping is basically a necessity for the visiting public as accommodation is scarce.

No matter where you live in Australia, getting to Birdsville is one hell of a trip where you do come across dirt roads, but if you really love your racing and live entertainment off the track, then the Birdsville Race Club’s extravaganza is a must.

The fields have dropped away in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s hard to fault the prizemoney with $262,000 on offer for the 13 races that were scheduled for Birdsville on the Friday and Saturday.

Before the rain arrived, the Birdsville Race Club suffered a blow with the scratchings of Todd Austin’s two horses from the Cup following an alleged jigger scandal which saw the Barcaldine trainer, along with leading Queensland jockey Ric McMahon, banned from racing pending an investigation.

Race favourite Lubuk, as well as the top weight Hemmerle, were scratched from the $42,000 Birdsville Cup (1600m) on the Saturday, along with Austin’s horses originally entered to race on the Friday.

Known as the ‘King of Birdsville’ after winning the Cup on three previous occasions, Austin’s plans were scuppered when pictures emerged on social media of McMahon allegedly using what appears to be a jigger device during trackwork.

PUNT DRUNK: Jigger scandal and wet weather rock Birdsville Races

The two days of racing went ahead despite the rain that fell in the days leading up to the races, but there was a twist.

Friday’s meeting could not go ahead due to the condition of the track, so it was switched to Sunday.

While the racing revellers dealt with the rain and the mud, the Birdsville Race Club stepped up to ensure that the racing went ahead as scheduled.

“It’s obviously not something we really ever plan for, but we had an inch of rain on Thursday night and the track was completely unsuitable,” Birdsville Race Club vice-president Gary Brook said.

“Not only for racing, you couldn’t even had any members of the public there as there was water everywhere – so we needed to give it a good day to dry out.

“We looked at the possibility of merging two days into one, but in the end we knew we needed all of Saturday morning to even get the track suitable and that was still a gamble.

“So we just decided the simplest thing would be to pick Friday up and move it to Sunday.”

Come Saturday morning, work on the track commenced immediately – the first race on the seven-event program was scheduled for 12.54pm and a delay appeared inevitable.

“We had two graders, a tractor and two vehicles with drags – they moved on to the track at 7am on Saturday,” Brook added.

“Not a word of a lie, these grader drivers did not move out of their cabin for eight hours straight.

“We were due to have the first race at about 1pm and then it became 2pm and then it became 2.30pm and then it became 3.07pm.

“They had to effectively dig down three or four inches and remove all the mud to give us a racing surface that was suitable.

“They worked tirelessly – the crowd were cheering the graders for the first few hours of the day.

“You know, I guess no one probably thought we could do it, but we’ve done it before – we did it in 2016 when we had over 50mm of rain on the Thursday and the team did it again this year.”

No doubt there was every chance the races may not go ahead on Saturday, but Brook and his Birdsville Race Club committee remained positive.

“I think we were always confident – we actually thought we’d be closer to starting on time, but there were few little dicey patches that needed repair and so forth,” he said.

“Then lo and behold half an hour before race one, we’re almost done and then one grader runs out of fuel and the tractor needs repairs – so it was one of those Murphy’s Law days.

“We probably couldn’t have gone much later because we still needed to get seven races in and the sun sets at 6.30pm here, so starting at 3.07pm I think we would have been starting to struggle if we had to go back much later.

“Look, there’s no doubt the heart rate was racing Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning, but once that first race was run and won things went really smoothly and we were just rapt to get the full Carnival in even if it was a day late.

“Ironically, it went from probably a Heavy 10 on Saturday morning to a fast and firm track by race time because they had taken all the soft layer off the track.

“It was still suitable, there were no horse issues – they all pulled up well.

“But yeah, it was actually a pretty good racing surface in the end.

“I said to someone the other day, I’m not sure that we know the difference between dirt and sand out here – it’s actually set on a natural clay pan.

“That means because it’s clay, obviously when it gets wet it gets quite slippery, but it’s also got a bit of sponge in it.

“So they just took off a layer of wet clay and got down to the dry earth and it was good to go.”

The conditions on Sunday for the six-event program were just about perfect, with Brook praising Darwin trainer Phil Cole after he won the Sprint with Kronos having taken out the Cup with Saccharo on Saturday.

Cole, who finished second in the 2021/22 Top End trainers’ premiership in the NT, ended up with five winners over the two days.

“To win the two features is rare – it is a tough place to win races here at Birdsville,” Brook said.

“People come a long way – you don’t drive a 1000km with a horse unless you think it’s got a chance.

“And for Phillip (Cole) from Darwin, it’s almost a 4500km round trip.

“He didn’t come to Birdsville with horses that he didn’t think could win and he’s been rewarded.

“It’s often not necessarily the best horses on paper that win.

“They need to be able to travel, they need to be able to handle the dirt, they need to be able to carry weight, and they need to be able run anti-clockwise.

“So all of those things sometimes come into play.

“All the Queensland horses have come from running clockwise, so even that can actually throw a few spanners in the works I guess.”

Apart from the inclement weather where several bogged vehicles had to be towed and racegoers found it tricky to pitch tents, it wasn’t all doom and gloom at Birdsville.

And those who made the trip for the races were part of history as never before has Birdsville hosted two meetings in the same year since racing started in 1882.

“Numbers, certainly crowd wise, we probably had 50 to 75 per cent more than April,” Brook said.

“Very good crowd all things considered.

“We know some of the roads were closed.

“We know that COVID is still an issue for events and so forth.

“We would have had close to 4000 there on track on Cup Day, which all things considered we’re really pleased with.”

A week before the Birdsville Races, Betoota – located 167km to the east – held a meeting and this Saturday there is a meeting at Bedourie – located 187km to the north.

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