New Zealand gelding Raetihi took out the Birdsville Cup on Saturday from Hello World, which claimed the Akubra Big Red Cup on Friday.
Not so fortunate was Green Shadows, followed to the event by a 47-strong contingent in two buses led by Robert "Rabbs" Wharram.
"Rabbs" stopped on the way to call the yabby races at Windorah before auctioning goldfish at the Birdsville Pub.
He might have had no voice left to cheer his chestnut gelding home, with the five-year-old withering in the desert heat to finish second last.
So too went the story of five-year-old gelding Aussie Adaptor, trained by 81-year-old John Ferguson.
Mr Ferguson, a fixture of the Birdsville Races for 63 years, was allegedly making his final pilgrimage to the event.
"I've been saying that for a few years," he said with a twinkle when asked if it was indeed his last visit.
He said it depended on his body holding up, holding onto his licence to drive a truck and - most importantly - whether his horse was any good.
Aussie Adaptor was backed into favouritism for the 1400m Roadies Ratings Band event, but had a tardy start out of the gates and never recovered, finishing second last.
Another fixture of the event - calling his 23rd Birdsville Cup - was Josh Fleming, who first called the race at the age of 14.
Birdsville Race Club vice-president Gary Crook said Mr Fleming had the quality that marked all great sports broadcasters.
"He can impart a story with the call," he told AAP.
"If you are just calling the race, you might do a fantastic job, but that's all you're doing.
"Whereas Josh, he knows the horses, the trainers, so he can tell a story with the call, with all those snippets and bits of knowledge."
Mr Fleming still has a long career ahead after Sky Racing unexpectedly made him redundant in 2025 after he had risen to the top of his game.
He was immediately snapped up as racing and operations manager at the Toowoomba Turf Club.
And still, Birdsville keeps calling him back - and he can't stay away.
"It's about the people," Mr Fleming told AAP.
"It wouldn't be an easy place to live here, but you know those that do it are here for a reason.
"You're sort of at the mercy of Mother Nature a bit."
That's an understatement. In 2010, the races were cancelled due to flooding.
On another occasion in 2016, half the annual rainfall fell the day before the scheduled meet, leaving thousands of revellers stranded.
"Once they removed the road closed signs, it was like the migration of the wildebeest," Mr Fleming said with a chuckle.
Despite the remote location and tough conditions, the Birdsville Races are rarely cancelled, with this being the 144th iteration since 1882.
An equine influenza outbreak cancelled the meet in 2007 and the COVID-19 pandemic ended the 2020 and 2021 races.
Birdsville Races remains one of the biggest weekends on the outback calendar, raising funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
AAP travelled with the support of the Birdsville Race Club.
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