Barcaldine trainer Todd Austin won Saturday's Birdsville Cup for a second time when his veteran French Hussler survived a dramatic protest in the 137th running of the iconic outback event.

Final acceptances for this weekend's Birdsville Races, receiving national TAB and Sky Channel coverage for the first time, have resulted in 154 entries across 13 races on Friday and Saturday.

TAB has signed on as the naming rights sponsor of the 2019 Birdsville Cup, following UBET's inaugural sponsorship of the race in 2018.

Kym Healy can match the early explorers for his travels in search of success at Australia's far-flung race meetings.