Birdsville Races Gallop Into Action

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The most remote thoroughbred horse races in the world - the Birdsville Races - kick off in Queensland's Simpson Desert on 4 & 5 September. Known as the Melbourne Cup of the Outback, the Birdsville Races have a rich history of dirt track racing, novelty fashions on the field, and supporting the important outback medical work of the Royal Flying Doctor Service through a themed Fun Run and glamorous Gala under the stars.

The combined prize money for the 13-race carnival tops more than $330,000, plus bonuses. The Birdsville Cup prize money alone is $62,000. Full racing program on the Racing Queensland website.

The faces behind the race

David Brook (AOM), Birdsville Race Club President
Hometown: Birdsville, Australia

As long-time cattle farmers and co-owners of the iconic Birdsville pub until recent years, David Brook and his family are a cornerstone of not just the Birdsville Races, but the town of Birdsville itself.

David's connection to the western corner of Queensland spans back generations, all the way to the 1880s when his family first settled in Birdsville. He attended his first Birdsville race meeting in 1957, and has been involved in organising the races since the mid-1970s.
The Brook's horse Neodium took out the 2023 TAB Birdsville Cup, bringing a Cup win home for the Brooks for the first time in 23 years. Neodium took out a second title to win the major TAB Birdsville Cup races for a second time in 2024. Neodium has recently retired from racing and will not defend the TAB Birdsville Cup race in 2026.
David Brook is Chairman of the Stockman's Hall of Fame in Longreach, co-founder and Chairman of OBE Organic – the biggest organic beef producer in the world and was a local councillor at just 20 years of age -serving in that role for 18 years and then 13 years as Mayor of the Diamantina Shire. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential people in the Australian Outback.
The OBE Beef co-operative he chairs is made up of 30 producers and has a combined seven million hectares of certified organic rangelands in the remote Channel Country. Of this, the Brook family properties span close to 3.5 million hectares.
David took over as the president of the Birdsville Race Club after his Uncle Bob passed down a leather bag containing all the Race Club documents.
The next generation of help has also arrived, with David's son, Gary – who is Vice President of the Birdsville Race Club, as well as the Brook's grandchildren who have embraced the family tradition of attending the annual event.

Gary Brook – Birdsville Race Club, Vice President
Hometown: Adelaide, Australia

Gary is following in his father's footsteps as the driving force behind the iconic two-day race meet while juggling a full-time job and three young sons – Henry, Billy and Rueben - with wife Sherri.

Born and bred in Birdsville, Gary went to boarding school in Adelaide before studying marketing and business at university.
With this knowledge and background, Gary immersed himself into the gargantuan effort that is organising the races more than a decade ago.
The races have been part of Gary's life since birth. His earliest memories of the races are as a four-year-old seeing famed outback horse trainer George Dawson – who he said is "our version of Bart Cummings" – turning up in his red truck a week before. "That signified to me the races were on".
Gary reckons that Birdsville offers a quintessential Australian experience you can't find anywhere else. "It's the only place everyone wants to buy you a beer. People in Sydney and Melbourne don't turn around to you at the bar and say – "where are you from? Can I buy you a beer?".

Nell Brook
Hometown: Birdsville, Australia.

South African born Nell was working as an air hostess with South African Airlines when she met David Brook, fell in love and left the city of Pretoria to settle in Birdsville.
David and Nell were married in 1974 and had six children.
After settling in outback Australia, Nell got her pilots licence so that she could fly herself around the region and not be so isolated.
Flying herself around their property holdings remains an integral part of Nell's role in managing the family pastoral business, Brook Proprietors, which produces organic beef for OBE.
2023 marked the 50th anniversary of Nell attending her first Birdsville Races.

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Birdsville Races Gallop Into Action

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