It's not quite the race that stops the nation - but every year, it fills one of the driest, hottest towns in Australia to overflowing.
The Birdsville Races, which have been running almost annually since 1882, is the biggest and most remote outback track meeting in the country.
It's also one of the hottest, with the town perched on the eastern edge of the Simpson Desert, in the border country of far west Queensland.
And this year's event - the 144th - will be hot, with the mercury set to top 37C when racing gets under way from Friday.
That, of course, is nothing compared to December-January, when the mercury regularly nudges towards 50C.
Birdsville Race Club vice-president Gary Brook says that's just life in the outback.
"For many people, getting away from the miserable winters of Melbourne and Adelaide is a good thing," he said.
While the races run rain or shine - a downpour in 2016 left pilgrims stranded in the town for days - there have been extra challenges this year.
Immense wet-season rains - enough to fill Kati-Thanda-Lake Eyre over the South Australian border - mean the Birdsville Track remains closed.
It has forced travellers coming from the south on an extra six-hour loop via Broken Hill and Tibooburra, while fuel prices remain sky-high.
"Just getting here is a journey and an achievement in itself," Mr Brook said.
The additional hardship faced by travellers and contestants for this year's meet has resulted in the total prize pool bumping to a record $350,000.
Mr Brook said it had been a brutal year for outback tourism, with multiple rain events causing uncertainty as roads reopened, only to be closed again.
"Sometimes people aren't prepared to take that risk, and we certainly understand that," he said.
Trainers and jockeys were travelling from as far afield as Darwin, Queensland's Sunshine Coast and Victoria to attend the meet, along with spectators.
One group consisting of 46 part-owners of Birdsville Cup fancy Green Shadows are travelling on two sold-out buses to cheer their chestnut gelding home.
Mr Brook said one of the event's quirks was that the best horse didn't always win.
"It's harder to win in Birdsville than many other places in outback Queensland," he said.
"There are so many variables. They may not handle the trip to Birdsville, the flies, the dust, the different drinking water, the dirt."
On the other hand, he said nags that might not make the grade in Group 1 racing had other opportunities racing in the outback.
"It's an off-ramp. If you know your horse is not going to make it at that level, then there is still something pretty special that's out there for you."
Horses, trainers and jockeys from four states and territories will be vying for Friday's feature race Akubra Big Red and the headline act, the $70,000 TAB Birdsville Cup, on Saturday.
Additional funds raised from the event support the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
AAP travelled with the support of the Birdsville Race Club.
SOURCE/AUTHOR : AAP NEWS/Andrew Stafford in Birdsville, QLD
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