When the Keys brothers were growing up in the bush, there was no electricity in their home and they had to ride a pony bareback 10km into town.

It might sound like one of those tall tales older generations tell their children and grandchildren to demonstrate just how easy they've got it.

But for siblings John, Ken and Robert Keys, stories of those frugal early years on a King Island farm, in the middle of the Bass Strait, have come to define both their brotherly bond and their lives working with horses.

The horse trainers brought their runners more than 3000km from Melbourne and Tasmania to the Birdsville Races, the first time the island state has been represented in the 143-year history of the outback Queensland carnival.

Robert Keys' Wholesome came eighth in race five on Saturday aft

See Full Page