A 50-1 long shot early on, French Hussler galloped to a neck by three quarter win – nabbing Austin his second Birdsville Cup career win – following his Cup victory with Primed back in 2013.
Austin has attended more than 25 Birdsville Races as both a jockey and a trainer since he was a young boy, while his wife and co-owner of French Hussler, Tony Austin, has been attending the Birdsville Races for 20 years.
Topping a stellar e field, the connection of Cup winner French Hussler took home $40,000 – a record-equaling prize-purse for the carnival’s historic headline race, which this year ran for a 137th time.
“We love it out here – our kids, aged seven and nine, have been attending the Birdsville Races since they were born. It’s better than any of the big city race meets,” said Todd Austin.
The final day of the ‘Melbourne Cup of the Outback’ saw more than 5,000 revelers descend on the tiny town of Birdsville to party and punt across a bumper seven-race card, as cornflower blue skies and striking red desert terrain heated up the action both on and off the famous Birdsville race track.
The previous day’s 50km winds abated, making way for perfect race conditions, as thousands of trackside punters dressed to the nines for seven back-to-back races, Fashions on the Fields and an array of Outback entertainment and activities.
As in previous years, entertainment, trackside hospitality and wild and wacky activities featured throughout the two-day race meet, with live music, pub festivities and Fred Brophy’s famous Boxing troupe keeping revelers partying into the night in the township of Birdsville itself.
The 2019 Birdsville Races fielded a stellar 154 entries, with 26 trainers and 22 jockeys – from places as far afield as Strathalbyn (SA). Sunshine Coast (QLD), Nyngan (NSW) and Darwin (NT).
The Races were 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.
This year, for the first time, prizemoney was also awarded to top-10 finishers across all the carnival’s 13 races.
The final day of racing drew attendance from the Minister for Local Government, Minister for Racing and Minister for Multicultural Affairs, The Hon. Sterling Hinchcliff, boxer Danny Green and official Birdsville Races ambassador, indigenous model Venessa Harris.
A total of more than 8,000 punters attended the 2019 Birdsville Races this September 6 & 7, 2019.
Punters across Australia were also able to experience all action from the Races from the comfort of their own homes, thanks to a renewed national telecast deal between the Races and Sky Racing. The partnership saw the full 13-race line-up televised into homes nationally via Sky Racing.
“Each and every year, the Birdsville Races welcome people from all corners of Australia to one of the best country race meets in the nation,” said Birdsville Race Club Vice President, Gary Brook.
“It’s been a great year for us, with an event-record number of female jockeys, Group 1 trainer talent and stellar acceptances across the entire race card,” Brook added.
“Though we had windy weather conditions yesterday, we’ve been treated to blue skies, edge-of-your-seat racing and bumper crowds that have kept the carnival bustling and colourful as ever. The Birdsville Races continue to grow into an iconic bucket-list experience for racing and travel enthusiasts alike every year, and we’re excited to do it all over again next September,” concluded Brook.
The Birdsville Races are supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland and features on the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar, worth $800m to the state’s economy in 2019.
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