SA racing enthusiasts head to iconic Birdsville Cup

Among the sea of maroon Queensland and yellow NSW number plates, a small handful of SA vans stand out in the campgrounds ahead of the iconic Birdsville Cup.

Among the sea of maroon Queensland and yellow NSW number plates, the small handful of South Australia vans stand out in the Birdsville Races campgrounds.

After two days on the road and two flat tyres, four workmates and a wife have set up camp (with the help of a young bloke from Ipswich) and are enjoying a cold drink – they offer a beer, cider, red, white or rose wine, rum and ginger beer, margarita or seltzer.

They work FIFO for the Department of Child Protection in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands for eight days on and have used their six days off to travel to the Melbourne Cup of the Outback.

Hitting the road at 6am on Wednesday, the Port Pirie contingent – husband and wife Rick and Kylie Carrick – had a headstart from Adelaide’s Kylie Huppatz, Ruth Frick and Tiara Ladju.

“We got a flat tyre when we just got onto the Birdsville Track and then they were able to catch up with us,” Rick said, relaxing into his camp chair with a Coopers, squatting away flies.

“They stole a drink off me each and it was beer o’clock.”

After camping the night 50km out of Mungerannie on a hill, they tucked into overnight oats and coffee for breakfast before being struck by the second flat tyre. Luckily it was the other vehicle and they still have two spares between them.

Back on the Birdsville Track they were flagged down by a man in the middle of the road waving his arms.

“We’ve stopped and helped a gentleman and his wife from Ararat who broke their jack,” Rick said.

“(The Birdsville Races) was on their bucket list, they wanted to come here, he was pretty happy to get help, tried to give me some horrible drink.”

Rick refused a VB or a Carlton Draught as a thank you and suggested they pay it forward instead.

“I think that’s the thing because we all work in the bush, we’re used to stopping and helping people, we’re always going to give a hand to somebody who’s stuck because if it was us in the same position, we’d want somebody to stop for us,” Ruth said.

(Back) Ruth Frick, Kylie Huppatz, Tiara Ladju and (front) Rick Carrick camping at the Birdsville Races. Picture: Jessica Ball

They’re all Birdsville Races first timers. It’s a trip Rick has been dreaming of for a decade and the chorus around the campsite says he hasn’t talked about anything else all year.

He’s the boss who convinced Tiara to join even though she admits she had to ask “what’s a camper trailer?”.

“I bring a hair straightener everywhere I go,” she said.

“To be honest, I actually didn’t know that there was a dirt track, I just assumed it was bitumen the whole way.”

Tiara “will never come here again” saying it was a once in a lifetime experience out of her comfort zone.

“An eight out of 10,” she said, when asked how she rated the sleep in the campervan.

“If you think I’m a princess, when (my partner) found out that there was no toilet, no shower, he was like ‘hell no’.”

But with catering by wife Kylie – who pulled out a menu including banh mi, bacon and eggs (the only thing Rick can cook), steaks, chicken Thai curry, a seafood platter that travelled all the way from Cuptos Port Pirie, Caesar salad including home laid eggs and a massive cheese board – it’s barely roughing it.

These horses bring an adorable new meaning to stable mates

An unlikely trump card has emerged in a South Australian horse’s pursuit of a rare back-to-back triumph of the iconic Birdsville Cup.

Neodium and Trumpsta brought a new meaning to stable mates when they made the epic 1200km, two-day journey from Adelaide, through the Outback to Birdsville last year.

Sparks flew, love grew and the horses became inseparable. Now, Neodium is banking on that bond to carry him to the Cup this year.

Neodium stormed across the finish line in 2023, taking home the prestigious 1600m Cup for Birdsville Race Club stalwart and president David Brook and marking the family’s first win in 23 years.

The Brooks own Listore Park near Wistow in the Adelaide Hills, which has produced seven winners of the remote Queensland race – more than anywhere else in the nation.

Neodium (left) is en route to Birdsville to defend its 2023 TAB Birdsville Cup win. Pictured with trainer Tommy Stokes and ‘best friend’ Trumpsta. Picture: Dean Martin

After a two-decade hiatus, the family’s horses returned to the Hills where the thoroughbred began his preparation before moving to Phillip Stokes Racing Morphettville stables.

“Neodium just loves Trumpsta. Trumpsta doesn’t care at all but Neodium without Trumpsta alongside him, he calls out and makes a bit of a fuss about it,” trainer Tommy Stokes said.

“That Birdsville trip really brought them on because they had to spend every minute of every day together, they had to do everything together.”

Tommy and grandparents Ron and Mary Stokes, who have been in the industry longer than he’s been alive, hit the road on Tuesday with Neodium and Trumpsta in the float.

It’s an eight-hour journey to Marree where they’ll stay the night and stop in at the pub where there are photos of Ron on the walls from his younger days, before transferring into a truck for another eight hours on dirt track.

Jockey Emily Finnegan (right) rides the Brook family owned Neodium to win the TAB Birdsville Cup last year. Picture: Dan Peled/NCA NewsWire

“That’s the hard part, it’s not as far but it takes just as long because of the dirt,” Tommy said.

“Grandpa sort of grew up there and knows the best way for the horses to travel up and everything so that really helped us last year with both of the horses.”

Tommy said the 2023 win was “the icing on the cake”, describing the atmosphere as “unreal”.

“The Brooks – David and (vice president) Gary – they pretty much own and run the show there and that was their first time winning it in 23 years so that was extra special to see how much it meant to their whole family,” he said.

Now, eight-year-old Neodium is attempting to go back-to-back in the Cup, a feat that has only been pulled off three times in the race’s 142-year history.

Neodium crosses the finish line in first last year. Picture: Birdsville Races

Owners David and Nell Brook with the trophy after Neodium won the 2023 Birdsville Cup. Picture: Dan Peled/NCA NewsWire

With a track record on the dry ground and with local jockey Justin Potter riding, Tommy said “he should be hard to beat”.

“I think Neodium is a great chance again, to be honest, I’m more confident this year,” he said.

But Trumpsta is more than a beloved travel companion, he’s a competitor in his own right.

He was originally trained by the Stokes but when his previous owners decided he “wasn’t quite city class” Ron purchased him back for around $30k and he won his money back straight away.

“(Grandpa) always wanted to train a horse to run in Birdsville, it doesn’t have to be the Birdsville Cup just to go there and see all his friends again,” Tommy said.

“He’s probably in better order this year than he was last year so looking forward to him racing again, and second time on dirt should be a bonus.”