Racing History
Facts of yesteryear |
Results Archive |
Cup Winners |
Track Records
Facts of yesteryear
- Professional riders
carried a 7lb penalty.
- Special races were
held for horses bred within 250 miles of Birdsville.
- Nomination fees
ranged between 5% and 10% of prizemoney.
- For a fee of 10
pounds owners could lead their own horses into the saddling enclosure.
- Steeplechase races
were programmed when racing was conducted on the old course three miles
to the west of town. This course was abandoned after regularly being
inundated with floodwaters.
- Prizemoney for
the cup has varied from 500 pounds in the 1880’s to 50 pounds in
the 1940’s, $5000 in 1982 and $25000 in 2002.
- A bell was rung
as horses left the enclosure and connections fined 10 shillings for
horses not at the starting post within 5 minutes.
- Separate race were
programmed for corn fed and grass fed horses.
- Star Ace the 1970
winner in the absence of a horse float was trotted up the Birdsville
Track beside the trainer’s vehicle.
- Races were once
started by the drop of a hat, later by strand barriers and now with
barrier stalls.
- Club was originally
titled ‘Birdsville Amateur Turf Club’, later changed to Diamantina
Amateur Race Club to incorporate the Betoota
race meeting. In 1990 it separated from Betoota and became the ‘Birdsville
Race Club Incorporated’.
- Unregistered horses
were only allowed to start in Hack races.
- Prior to 1954 with
exception of the cup, prizemoney was only paid for 1st and second placegetters.
- The cup distance
has remained 1 mile or 1600 meters since its first running in 1882.
In 1949 and 1950 the ‘Hospital Handicap’
(1 mile) was run in lieu of the Cup. Meetings were held then to raise
funds for the construction of the Birdsville Hospital.
- The annual race
meeting is now held to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service
and Birdsville Clinic.
The Results Archives are available as PDF documents.
2003-Results.pdf
130KB
2002-Results.pdf
978KB
2001-Results.pdf
99KB
2000-Results.pdf
130KB
The Cup Winners is available as a PDF document.
Winners_Circle-Birdsville.pdf
50KB
The Track records is available as a PDF document.
Track_Records-Birdsville.pdf
43KB
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