Thousands of racegoers have braved the heat and dust to be track side at the Birdsville races – in remote outback Queensland. Crowd sizes are down from record highs pre-covid, but that has not stopped punters from putting on a party to remember on the edge of the Simpson desert.
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00:00It's the race that stops the outback.
00:09Some punters are rejoicing in the win.
00:11Yeah, had a pretty good day.
00:12Come down here and sunk a couple of middies and won 280 there, so good win there I suppose.
00:17Others are just happy to make the long journey to Birdsville.
00:21We had four flats along the way, absolutely shredded our tyres.
00:24A group of travellers from Longreach finally reach their destination after a 13 hour road
00:29trip gone wrong.
00:31Spirits are high, we're ready to go.
00:33Crowd numbers have been down in recent years as people feel their purse strings tightening.
00:38There's no doubt that the cost of living is biting, with interest rates and the cost of
00:42fuel.
00:43There's not many events where people will travel so far.
00:46But for those who did make the trek, there was no expense spared for fashions on the
00:49field.
00:52Events like this keep Birdsville's small businesses alive, but a slow tourist season
00:56has taken its toll.
00:58It's affected us, our business, hugely.
01:02If the numbers drop any more, you know what I mean, it's a bit scary.
01:06It's not only crowd numbers down from their peak pre-COVID.
01:09The number of entrants were probably down a bit this year.
01:12We'd certainly like to see greater numbers in races.
01:1571 horses competed across 13 races this year, with some only attracting a field of four.
01:21Industry insiders say it's becoming increasingly expensive to send their prized thoroughbreds
01:26to the outback.
01:28Despite the challenges, it's still a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.
01:32From the moment we left, the experiences along the way was a huge highlight to making our
01:38way here.
01:39And then as soon as we got here, everyone's here to have a really good time.
01:45The party on the edge of the Simpson Desert has only just begun.