The countdown to this year's edition of the Birdsville Races is nearly over as the small Queensland outback township readies itself for the 140th anniversary of the iconic race.
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The celebrations are set to kick off this Friday, September 2 and will involve a stacked two day, 13-race program filled with film, live music cocktail parties and Fred Brophy's famous travelling boxing troupe.
The Races attract visitors to outback Queensland from the beginning of August and also provide a vital economic boom for remote communities in the region.
Dubbed the "Melbourne Cup of the outback", the now historic bush meet first began in 1882 and has since evolved to become an experience that ignites the small desert town of just 115 residents.
This year, the town's small population will swell to accommodate more than 6,000 visitors as organisers prepare to celebrate the race's 140th anniversary.
Reminiscing on some of his earliest memories of the Races, current Birdsville Race Club President, David Brook, said his connections to the event dated back to as early as the race's beginnings.
"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," he said.
"On my mum's side, our connection to Birdsville traces back to the 1880s."
Mr Brook and his family are long time cattle graziers in Birdsville and their connection to the western corner of Queensland goes back generations.
"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," Mr Brook said.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 edition of the Races and the postponement of the 2021 Races to April earlier this year, creating a historic double race meeting in 2022.
Television personality Sammie O'Brien will return as ambassador for this year's event with organisers predicting the greatest incarnation of the Races yet.
"To celebrate 140 years since the Birdsville Races began, we will be welcoming many longtime friends - plus some of the carnival's greatest jockeys, trainers, characters and racing families - back into town for a ripper celebration of old meets new," Mr Brook said.
"We will also be hosting some special presentations and events to commemorate the history of the Birdsville Races and how far we've come over 140 years."
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, to be held on September 1.
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