Cole brings 11-horse team to Birdsville Races
In early September they come from near and far and they travel by road or by air to attend the two days of racing at Birdsville in outback Queensland.
Located some 1590km west of Brisbane and some 720km south of Mt Isa, Birdsville is on the edge of the Simpson Desert and is nestled within “cooee” of the South Australian border.
In the 2021 census the locality of Birdsville had a population of 110 people.
The Birdsville Race Club will get to stage the event in spring for the first time since 2019 after the 2020 and 2021 meetings were called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2021 version was re-scheduled and took place on the famed dirt track earlier this year on April 10-11.
It’s full steam ahead in 2022 with the iconic event taking place on Friday and Saturday, and it will be the first time the Birdsville Race Club will stage two meetings in the same year since racing kicked off in 1882.
Yes, it’s the 140th anniversary and up to 6000 punters will enjoy the two days of quality outback racing and live entertainment off the track.
Known as the Melbourne Cup of the outback, six races have been scheduled for Friday with six races scheduled for Saturday – which includes the $42,000 Birdsville Cup (1600m) on the second day.
The prizemoney over the two days is around $250,000, so it comes as no surprise that attending the Birdsville Races is on the bucket list of owners, trainers, jockeys, punters and the general public.
Securing accommodation has always been a hurdle, but there’s never an issue when it comes to getting your hands on a beer.
Making the trek to the south-western corner of Queensland is truly one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
Way back in the late 1880s the track was a straight line marked out with posts 200m apart and the races started with a flag or the raising of a cable before the advent of barriers.
The track was moved to its current location in the 1930s and it wasn’t until the 1960s that it really took its present shape – for example, extra rails were added to the inside.
The track is 2000m in circumference and Birdsville is still one of only four tracks in Queensland that runs anti-clockwise.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Birdsville Races accommodated crowds of 1000 – not bad considering the road trip to Birdsville took a lot longer with road conditions in effect back then.
Malcolm Fraser, the sitting Australian prime minister at the time, helped put Birdsville on the map when he attended the races in 1978.
The races continue to be a major event for the local community and raise funds for much-needed club facilities and proudly supports the Royal Flying Doctor Service Queensland section.
The racing purists from all points of the compass have once again descended upon Birdsville – including Darwin-based trainer Phil Cole.
He has taken 11 horses to Birdsville with the likes of Saccharo, Kronos, Faith And Love, Do Your Best, Andaman, It’s Pins, Maxaway, Ghetto, Stroke Of Magic, Kick It Baby and Crazy Lad featuring over both days.
Saccharo will line up in the Cup, while Do Your Best, Ghetto and Kick It Baby are scheduled to race on Friday and Saturday.
Cole’s wife, Rhonda, took Faith And Love and Do Your Best to Birdsville in April with the former winning and the latter racing over the two days for a third on the first day.
“I came to Birdsville 12 years ago and it got washed out,” Cole said from Birdsville on Thursday.
“The wife has always wanted to come to the Birdsville Races.
“This year we sort of organised a team a long time ago to come out here.
“There are some pretty small field sizes here, so hopefully we should have a good carnival here.
“We couldn’t find any ideal races in Darwin for Faith And Love and the prizemoney was inviting in April, so we sent her over and she won.
“She’s back here to defend her title on Friday.”
Cole is thrilled to have Saccharo in the Birdsville Cup.
The seven-year-old gelding from Victoria produced mixed form in the Top End in June and July before winning in open company over 1600m on Darwin Cup Day on August 1 and finishing second in the Katherine Cup (1700m) on August 13.
“The Birdsville Cup has always been on my bucket list,” Cole said.
“Something that I have wanted, a runner in the Birdsville Cup and this year I’ve got Saccharo.
“His form in Darwin was quite strong before coming here and I thought his run last week at Betoota was pleasing.
“I think we’ll see a better horse come Saturday here at Birdsville.
“I haven’t won too many Cups during my training career and it would be fantastic to win the Birdsville Cup.”
Cole is also mixing business with pleasure during his Queensland sojourn.
“We brought 11 horses to Birdsville and we’re trying to offload a few who weren’t really paying their way in Darwin,” he said.
“Hopefully we’ll find someone that wants to train them in Queensland before we go back to Darwin.”
And he was quick to give a weather report.
“It has been raining this morning – we’ve had about 5-6mm of rain which is unfortunate,” Cole said.
“It’s pretty muddy and slushy outside.
“The soil around here doesn’t really cope too well with the rain – the wind is starting to pick up, so hopefully it dries out before the races tomorrow.”
Cole and wife Rhonda took their time travelling to Birdsville and had planned to race some of their horses at Mt Isa, but that didn’t eventuate as there was a problem surrounding flights which meant that the jockeys they had booked couldn’t get to town.
To prepare for Friday and Saturday, the Coles headed to the Betoota races – 167km east of Birdsville – last Saturday with nine runners.
Andaman finished second and It’s Pins was third in a 1000m maiden, while Saccharo was third in open company (1600m), Faith And Love came third over 1000m (0-60) and Ghetto secured third place in a Class B Handicap (800m).
Kronos, who finished second in the 2018 Darwin Guineas (1600m), lines up in the feature sprint event over 1200m at Birdsville on Friday and warmed up the engine with a fourth in open company over 1000m at Betoota.
After Birdsville, the Bedourie Cup meeting takes place 187km up the road on September 10.
“There’s races next weekend at Bouderie, which is sort of on the way home,” Cole said.
“We were planning going there and just probably assess the horses in the meantime as to whether or not we give them another run before we go back to Darwin.”