Through the Hill and high water, Birdsville races on

The great desert road that leads to one of Australia's most remote towns may be closed, but no one is holding their horses for the Birdsville Races.

Floods have shut much of the 517km Birdsville Track, a major outback road that traverses three deserts and two states, ahead of the 143rd race meet in outback Queensland.

That hasn't stopped more than 100 horses, their trainers, jockeys and thousands of punters coming from every corner of Australia, converging in the dusty outpost usually home to about 100 people.

Those coming from the southern states have swapped a 1200km journey up the track from South Australia for a 1600km trek via Broken Hill and Tibooburra in western NSW.

Birdsville Race Club vice president Gary Brook said it wasn't the first time weather and patchy road conditions had presented challenges, but that was all part of the event's unique charm.

"Life isn't always easy in the outback," Mr Brook told AAP ahead of the races.

"If you wanted to go to a race meeting where everything was the same and everything was perfect, you could probably go to one of those in the city.

"I would guarantee that if people have been to the Birdsville Races, and another 20 race meetings over the last 20 years, I don't think they could recall those meetings in the same way they could with Birdsville."

Record-breaking rain in March and April created an inland ocean across much of outback Queensland, leaving the race track under water for weeks.

After months of repairs to the course, buildings and stables, it will become home to a record 135 horses and their 32 trainers over the weekend.

Organisers are expecting their biggest event in recent years, with the $330,000 13-race carnival culminating in the Birdsville Cup on Saturday.

Tasmania will be represented for the first time in the race's history, as trainer brothers John, Robert and Ken Keys bring their runners more than 3000km to the outback.

"It will be a bit warmer in Birdsville than a Tasmanian winter," Mr Brook said.

"But that does typify the the uniqueness, the draw of the Birdsville Races.

"People want to be part of it ... and they're coming a long way to do so."

The event on the edge of the Simpson Desert began in 1882 as a small meet for 150 stockmen and horse owners.

It has since become a bucket list item for racing fans and intrepid travellers alike.

Mates Mick Devlin and Wayne Hicks travelled 3000km from Darwin, a trip they've been planning for years.

With two cartons of water and eight cases of beer in tow, the pair stopped at Daly Waters and the Barkly Homestead in the Northern Territory, then onto Mount Isa and Bedourie in outback Queensland.

"It's an iconic Australian thing to do," Mr Devlin told AAP, as he sat in front of his tent sinking a cold one.

"I love driving and travelling and the country is absolutely beautiful at the moment."

Staff at the Birdsville Hotel, a white-picketed country pub built in 1884, started planning for an influx of visitors as early as June.

"The races, without a doubt, is our absolute favourite week of the year," hotel manager Ben Fullagar told AAP.

"It's a homegrown, local event that is very important to the town and the community, which means it's very important to us."

This AAP article was made possible by support from the Birdsville Race Club