Nominations for the 2019 Birdsville Races are out, with 208 runners submitted across the two-day, 13 race program, and a strong Mount Isa contingent on September 6 and 7.
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The 'Melbourne Cup of the Outback' will attract a stellar race field for its 137th edition, with nominations comprising 129 horses and 28 trainers from Queensland, NSW, South Australia and NT - including Group 1 trainer David Jolly (Goolwa, SA), who will make his Birdsville Races debut in the headline TAB Birdsville Cup with the Terry Treichel-ridden Fulton Street.
Queensland country trainer and 2018 Birdsville Cup winner Bevan Johnson leads the field with 35 race nominations and 17 horses, followed by Barcaldine trainer Todd Austin with 18 nominations, and former Birdsville Cup winner Rodney Robb (Nyngan, NSW) with 16 nominations.
Austin has attended more than 30 Birdsville Races since he was a young boy, first as starry eyed spectator, then later as a jockey and Birdsville Cup-winning trainer in 2013.
Also in the mix will be 2012 and 2017 Birdsville Cup winner Craig Smith (Roma), 2011 Birdsville Cup winner Jay Morris of Mount Isa and fellow North West trainers Denise Ballard and Tanya Parry.
SEE OUR PHOTOS HERE FROM THE 2018 BIRDSVILLE CUP
Mount Isa is dominant with eight stables fielding horses across 13 races, followed by Toowoomba with three trainers, and Charleville and Darwin with two trainers each.
The final field will collectively journey more than 10,000kms, from places as far away as Strathalbyn (SA). Sunshine Coast, Nyngan and Darwin.
The Birdsville Races will be a fully funded country TAB meet for the first time in 2019, offering up a record overall prize-purse of $233,500 - an increase of 14 per cent from the carnival's total prizemoney in 2018.
The TAB Birdsville Cup will award a record-equalling $40,000, while total prizemoney for the event's feature sprint - the Road Tech Marine 1200m Open Handicap - will increase to $25,000.
This year, for the first time, prizemoney will also be awarded to top-10 finishers across all the meet's 13 races.
Sky Racing will televise the two day event.
Acceptances for the 2019 Birdsville Races will be finalised Tuesday, September 3.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
