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5 September, 2024

Barriers ready for Birdsville Races in Queensland’s Simpson Desert

Edited by Travel Weekly

The Birdsville Races, the most remote thoroughbred horse races in the world, is set to kick off in Queensland’s Simpson Desert on 6 September 2024.

Birdsville races.

Known as the Melbourne Cup of the Outback, the Birdsville Races have a rich history of dirt track racing, novelty fashions on the field, and colourful characters that include the famous Fred Brophy Boxing Troupe. The combined prize money for the 13-race carnival tops over $300,000, plus bonuses. The Birdsville Cup prize money alone is $50,000.

The event also supports the important outback medical work of the Royal Flying Doctor Service through a Fun Run and glamorous Gala under the stars.

The faces of the races

David Brook OAM – Birdsville Race Club president

David Brook OAM – Bridsville Race Club president.

As long-time cattle farmers and co-owners of the iconic Birdsville pub until recent years, David Brook and his family are a cornerstone of not just the Birdsville Races, but the town of Birdsville itself.

His connection to the western corner of Queensland spans back all the way to the 1880s. He attended his first Birdsville race in 1957 and has been involved in organising the races since the mid-1970s.

He is Chairman of the Stockman’s Hall of Fame in Longreach, co-founder and Chairman of Obe Organic, and was a local councillor at just 20 years of age, serving in that role for 18 years. He then served 13 years as Mayor of the Diamantina Shire.

He is widely regarded as one of the most influential people in the Australian Outback.

Gary Brook – Birdsville Race Club vice president

Gary Brook – Birdsville Race Club vice president.

Born and bred in Birdsville, he went to boarding school in Adelaide before studying marketing and business at university.

With this knowledge and background, Gary immersed himself into the gargantuan effort required for organising the races.

The races have been part of Gary’s life since birth. His earliest memories of the races are as a four-year-old seeing famed outback horse trainer George Dawson.

Nell Brook

Nell Brook.

South African born Nell was working as an air hostess with South African Airlines when she met David Brook and got married in 1974. After settling in outback Australia, Nell got her pilot’s licence so that she could fly herself around the region and not be so isolated.

Grace Hayden – 2024 Race Ambassador

Grace Hayden.

Grace Hayden, daughter of renowned Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden, is the 2024 Birdsville Races ambassador. She has previously been an Oaks Day ambassador during the 2022 Spring Racing Carnival as well as a race ambassador for Ladbrokes Summer Racing Festival in Tasmania, and last year followed her father’s footsteps into cricket broadcasting joining a panel of cricket greats including Mayanti Langer, Jatin Sapru, Ricky Ponting and Eoin Morgan on Star Sports for the World Cup.

Larry Lewis – The Starter

Larry Lewis – The Starter.

Larry Lewis hasn’t missed a single Birdsville Races, aside from the years the event was cancelled for Equine flu and Covid, since he fortuitously became the event’s starter some 30 years ago. Despite having the job for more than a quarter of a century, Larry says he always has his eyes on the ball because trainers and owners have often travelled more than a 1000kms to compete at the races.

Josh Fleming – Race caller

Josh Fleming – Race caller.

He spent his spare time as a kid in the backyard, calling phantom race meets into a tape recorder. At 14, he got a chance to call his first Birdsville Cup in 1998. In 2015, Josh was appointed Chief Race Caller for Sky Channel in Brisbane and is now a Group 1 race caller at major metropolitan race meets. The upcoming 2024 races marks the 21st time he’s called the iconic races.

The entertainers

Fred Brophy – Outback legend and fourth generation showman of the world’s last boxing troupe

Fred Brophy.

A fourth-generation showman, Fred Brophy and his travelling boxing troupe have become synonymous with the Birdsville Races and Outback Queensland in general. In 2009, Fred was inducted into the Queensland Boxing Hall of Fame, and was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2010 for his services to charities in Birdsville and his contributions to bringing entertainment to the outback.

Brettlyn “The Beaver” Neal – Brophy’s leading lady

Brettlyn Neal.

In true testament to the tough-as-nails attitude and unfaltering resilience native to members of Brophy’s famous Boxing Tent, ‘The Beaver’ trekked 1339 km through the blazing heat and rough terrains of Australia’s outback by pushbike to attend the 2013 Birdsville Races. She is best known for her role as a travelling tent boxer with Fred Brophy’s troupe.

Stephen Purcell – Birdsville’s only police officer

Stephen Purcell.

For Senior Constable, Stephan Purcell, a typical day consists of chatting with community members, issuing weather warnings and patrolling a 240,000-square kilometre expanse of land in Queensland’s countryside, equal to the size of the U.K.

Don Rowlands – Senior ranger

Don Rowlands.

Birdsville local Don Rowlands is a senior ranger with Queensland Parks and Wildlife. An Aboriginal elder in the Birdsville community, Don is playing an integral role in preserving the culture and history of his people and their life in the Simpson Desert, including songlines and Dreamtime stories and artefacts from stone tools to fighting shields, burial grounds and humpies.

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Birdsville Races