Broome Cup Horse Race In these parts, a good nickname is everything. Mike Windle has one. They call him Swindle. It seems an unfortunate moniker for a bookie and a publican, but as he relieves Broome Cup punters of their cash, Mr Windle does not seem even a little perturbed. And why would he? He is the only local bookmaker at the races, a long-standing Broome Turf Club committee man, and the town's must-attend big-day race meet is proceeding without a hitch, delighting the expected 8000 sun-kissed ladies and gentlemen of Broome. "It's just like Broome's Melbourne Cup," says Mr Windle, who arrived in the Kimberley hub in 1980. Well, it is sort of like the cup. The similarities are there: race blokewear and feathery head pieces are pretty universal, there's feverish betting and boozing and horses urged on by their silky masters. But this is different. Instead of Flemington's seagulls, Broome's soaring birds of prey hover over the track. Instead of spring roses, the track is ringed with low-slung olive-coloured Kimberley scrub set against rust-red dirt. And instead of Emirates and Myer marquees, Linneys the pearl jewellers hosts the poshest party. It's hard to miss, too, the giant yellow stubby of XXXX in the middle of the track. But perhaps the biggest contrast to the Melbourne Cup is the 32-degree weather. The ladies of Broome confidently assemble an outfit with no contingency for meteorological surprises. "You can have a baby between showers in Broome," Mr Windle-Swindle advises. Sometimes it doesn't rain for nine months. He is certainly proud of the event. In 1980 there were only 16 horses for all races. On Saturday there were 80 starters, and the event even attracted the West Australian governor, his excellency Malcolm McCusker, AC, QC. It was the first Broome Cup for Dennis Ward, 64, a local. Mr Ward, wearing a beige shirt and braces over his self-printed "Dead cat society" T-shirt, has been doing security jobs for the last 10 years and not been able to go to the cup. He is freed up now because he has just lost his job. "You've probably got 90 per cent of Broome here," he says. It was only standing room on the bus. Mr Ward has been in Broome for 38 years, since he came from Adelaide to escape a bad marriage. He is now a campaigner against feral cats, which he says are decimating the native wildlife, particularly the local lizards. There was one thing blissfully missing from the Broome Cup. Politics. "I doubt anybody's thinking about the election today," Mr Ward says."There may be some people at home watching that stuff on the TV, but I don't think anybody here would be thinking about Ruddy."