Birdsville is a small town in Western Queensland, about 1600 km west of Brisbane, and with a population of barely 100. However, this does not prevent it from being one of the most unusual, yet highly successful, racecourses in the world. It has a left handed sand circuit of 10 furlongs and first staged racing in 1882 when organised by Birdsville Amateur Turf Club. In due course the Diamantina Amateur Race Club took over administration of the meeting, a task which they also carried out for the Betoota Races. The two events went their separate ways again in 1990, with racing at Birdsville directed by Birdsville Race Club Incorporated, a role which continues to this day. It holds a single two day meeting annually in September and often welcomes crowds of between 7000 and 10,000 people, many coming in by planes because of the vast distance between Birdsville and its nearest neighbour. The races have only been cancelled three times in their history; once in 2007 due to an outbreak of horse flu, and again in 2010 because the course was flooded. The principal race is the Birdsville Cup over 1600 metres, with recent results shown below.
Birdsville Cup winners since 2011
2011 The Birdsville Cup ($28,200) over 1600 metres was won by Just a Touch (8/1) trained by Jay Morris and ridden by Gary Geran, beating Let Go Johnny and Kalman
2012 The Birdsville Cup ($28,200) over 1600 metres was won by Dancefloor Prodigy (100/30) trained by Craig Smith and ridden by Gary Geran, beating Greys A Rockin and Lotto Blues
2013 The Birdsville Cup ($30,200) over 1600 metres was won by Primes (9/1) trained by Todd Austin and ridden by Shane Egan, beating Faster Buster and Abdicated
2014 The Birdsville Cup ($32,200) over 1600 metres was won by Lucasam (25/1) trained by Richard Simpsonand ridden by R Sue-san, beating A Dependant and Tuatara
2015 The Birdsville Cup ($35,000) over 1600 metres was won by Iron Meteorite (4/1) owned by Andrew Saunders, trained by Jay Morris and ridden by Kody Nestor
2016 The Birdsville Cup ($35,000) over 1600 metres was won by More Alpha (6/1) trained by Heather Lehmann and ridden by Kayla Cross, beating Campanology and Nauble
2017 The Birdsville Cup ($35,000) over 1600 metres was won by Fast Fella (5/2 fav) trained by Craig Smith and ridden by Adrian Comme, beating Eye Winsome and Aussie Jack
2018 The Birdsville Cup ($40,000) over 1600 metres was won by Blue Jest (16/1) trained by Bevan Johnson and ridden by Mr Adrin Thompson, beating Boggoms and Expat Envy
