Century old amateur horse race gets underway in the Northern Territory’s Barkly region

ABC NEWS (Australia)

In the Barkly, one of the Northern Territory’s most popular outback events in underway this weekend. The ABC amateur horse races, names after surrounding stations, has been running for more than a century.

Transcript

00:00I'm here at Brunette Downs Station, about three and a half hours drive northeast of

00:06Tennant Creek in the beautiful Barkley cattle region.

00:09This is the ABC races, an iconic event in the Northern Territory, one of the biggest

00:14events in the Northern Territory's Outback calendar.

00:17More than a thousand people are expected through these gates here this weekend, coming from

00:22all parts of the country, not just the Northern Territory.

00:25Some competitors from interstate and plenty of tourists and grey nomads taking a peek

00:28at what the Territory has to offer as well.

00:31Now this event is historic.

00:33It's in its 114th year this year, and the name ABC races takes its name from the local

00:39stations around the Barkley that make up the event and have helped shape it over the years.

00:43So A, Alexandria, B, Brunette Downs Station, where I am now, C, Cresswell Downs, and that's

00:49now part of Walhalla Station.

00:52But the event is still a really big deal, and it gives people who are on stations, crew

00:57members, families who are living remotely, an opportunity to come together, spend time

01:01with each other, crack a beer, share some stories, and show off their horsemanship skills.

01:07But it's not just the races, there is also a rodeo that happens here, there's camp drafting,

01:13there's a tug of war happening, and there's also the Battle of the Barkley, which gives

01:17local station crews an opportunity to band together to complete a series of challenges

01:22and compete to be the best station crew, a highly held title.

01:26Now it looks like it's going to be another fantastic weekend here to cap off another

01:31great season across the Barkley.

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