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Phar Lap
Phar Lap with jockey Jim Pike riding at Flemington Racecourse c 1930
Sire	Night Raid
Dam	Entreaty
Damsire	Winkie
Sex	Male (gelded)
Foaled	1926
Country	New Zealand
Colour	Chestnut
Breeder	Alick Roberts
Owner	David Davis
Trainer	Harry Telford
Record	51:37-3-2
Earnings	£66,738
Major wins
AJC Derby (1928) Linlithgow Stakes (1929) Victoria Derby (1929) Futurity Stakes (1930) Melbourne Cup (1930) Chipping Norton Stakes (1930) Cox Plate (1930 & 1931) Melbourne Stakes (1930 & 1931) Underwood Stakes (1931) Agua Caliente Handicap (1932)
Honours
#22 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century 1983 Motion Picture - Phar Lap: Heart of a Nation Australian Racing Hall of Fame New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame (2006)
Last updated on 4 December 2007

Phar Lap, a chestnut thoroughbred gelding, was a champion racehorse who became a much loved national icon in New Zealand where he was foaled, and in Australia where he was trained and raced. At the time of his death in 1932, Phar Lap was the third highest stake-winner in the world. At the height of his powers, bookmakers offered very short odds on him, even refusing to accept any bets on some races.

Phar Lap was foaled on 4 October 1926 in Timaru in the South Island of New Zealand. He was sired by Night Raid (b United Kingdom 1918) out of dam Entreaty (b New Zealand 1920). He was a half brother to champion Kiwi racehorse and Melbourne Cup winner Nightmarch. However, he never raced in New Zealand; following his purchase at the 1928 Trentham Yearling Sales for 160 guineas, he was taken to Australia where he dominated the racing scene during a long and distinguished racing career.

Standing 17.1 hands, he was sometimes called "Australia's wonder horse" in that country. He was also called "The Red Terror", "Bobby" and "Big Red" (the latter nickname was also given to two of the greatest US racehorses, Man o' War and Secretariat).

His mounted hide is displayed at the Melbourne Museum, his skeleton at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and his heart at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.

Name

The name Phar Lap derives from the shared Zhuang and Thai word for lightning (Thai: ฟ้าแลบ fáa lɛ̂p, lit. 'sky flash').

According to the Museum Victoria, Aubrey Ping, studying medicine at the University of Sydney, had the track in Randwick as a regular haunt, and he often talked with riders and trainers. He had learned some Zhuang from his father, who migrated to Australia from southern China in the 19th century. He was the one who suggested "farlap" as the horse's name. Telford liked the name, but changed the F to PH to create a seven letter word, which was split in two in keeping with the dominant naming pattern of Melbourne Cup winners.

Slow start

Sydney trainer Harry Telford persuaded American-born sportsman David J. Davis to buy the colt at auction, based on his pedigree. Telford's brother Hugh, who lived in New Zealand, was asked to bid up to 190 guineas. When the horse was obtained for a mere 160 guineas, he thought the he was a great bargain - until the colt arrived in Australia. The horse was gangly, his face was covered with warts, and he had an awkward gait. Davis was furious when he saw the colt as well, and refused to pay to train the horse. Telford had not been particularly successful as a trainer, and Davis was one of his few remaining owners. To placate Davis, he agreed to train the horse for nothing, in exchange for a two-thirds share of the winnings - if any.

Although standing a winning racehorse at stud could be quite lucrative, Telford gelded Phar Lap anyway, hoping the colt would concentrate on racing.

Phar Lap finished last in the first race he entered and did not place in his next three races. He won his first race on 27 April 1929, the Maiden Juvenile Handicap (maiden = a race for horses that had previously not won a race) at Rosehill, ridden by Jack Baker of Armidale, a 17-year-old apprentice. He didn't race for several months but was then entered in a series of races, in which he moved up in class. Phar Lap took second in the Chelmsford Stakes at Randwick on 14 September 1929 and the racing community started treating him with respect.

Racing life

In the four years of his racing career, Phar Lap won 37 of 51 races he entered, including the Melbourne Cup in 1930 with 9st 12lb (61.5kg). In that year and 1931, he won 14 races in a row. From his win as a three-year-old in the VRC St. Leger Stakes until his final race in Mexico, Phar Lap won 32 of 35 races. In the three races that he did not win, he ran second on two occasions, beaten by a short head and a neck, and in the 1931 Melbourne Cup he finished eighth when carrying 10 st 10 lb (68 kg).

For his final race in 1932, Phar Lap's owner shipped him by boat to Agua Caliente Racetrack near Tijuana, Mexico, to compete in the Agua Caliente Handicap, which was offering the largest purse ever raced for in North America. Phar Lap won in track-record time while carrying 129 pounds (58.5 kg). From there, the horse was sent to a private ranch near Menlo Park, California, while his owner negotiated with racetrack officials for special race appearances.

Death

Early on 5 April 1932, the horse's strapper for the North American visit, Tommy Woodcock, found him in severe pain and having a high temperature. Within a few hours, Phar Lap hemorrhaged to death. Much speculation ensued, and when a necropsy revealed that the horse's stomach and intestines were inflamed, many believed the horse had been deliberately poisoned. There have been alternative theories, including accidental poisoning from lead insecticide and a stomach condition. It was not until the 1980s that the infection could be formally identified.

In 2000, equine specialists studying the two necropsies concluded that Phar Lap probably died of duodenitis-proximal jejunitis, an acute bacterial gastroenteritis.

However, in 2006 Australian Synchrotron Research scientists said it was almost certain Phar Lap was poisoned with a large single dose of arsenic in the hours before he died, perhaps supporting the theory that Phar Lap was killed on the orders of U.S. gangsters, who feared the Melbourne-Cup-winning champion would inflict big losses on their illegal bookmakers. No real evidence of involvement by a criminal element exists, however.

Sydney veterinarian Dr Percy Sykes believes poisoning did not cause the death. He said "In those days, arsenic was quite a common tonic, usually given in the form of a solution (Fowler's Solution)," and suggests this was the cause of the high levels. "It was so common that I'd reckon 90 per cent of the horses had arsenic in their system." In December 2007 Phar Lap's mane was tested to find if he was given repeated doses of arsenic which, if found, would point to accidental poisoning.

On 19 June 2008, the Melbourne Museum released the findings of the forensic investigation conducted by Dr. Ivan Kempson, University of South Australia, and Dermot Henry, Natural Science Collections at Museum Victoria. Dr. Kempson took six hairs from Phar Lap’s mane and analyzed them at the Advanced Photon Source in Chicago. These high resolution x-rays detect arsenic in hair samples, showing the specific difference "between arsenic, which had entered the hair cells via the blood and arsenic, which had infused the hair cells by the taxidermy process when he was stuffed and mounted at the museum".

Kempson and Henry discovered that in the 30 to 40 hours before Phar Lap’s death, the horse ingested a massive dose of arsenic. "We can't speculate where the arsenic came from, but it was easily accessible at the time," Henry said.

Following his death, Phar Lap's heart was donated to the Institute of Anatomy in Canberra and his skeleton to the New Zealand's National Museum in Wellington. After preparations of the hide by a New York City taxidermist, his stuffed body was placed in the Australia Gallery at Melbourne Museum.

Phar Lap's heart was remarkable for its size, weighing 6.2 kg, compared with a normal horse's heart at 3.2 kg. Now held at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, it is consistently the object visitors request to see most often.

When news of Phar Lap's death reached Australia thousands grieved. Many sporting champions paid tribute to the horse, including Australia's leading cyclist, Hubert Opperman. He said, "I am not a follower of horse-racing, but like every Australian with red blood in their veins, I have followed with close interest Phar Lap's gallop to world fame. Even during the Tour de France, I've had strangers ask after our champion racehorse, and had it been possible for him to visit the Continent, he would have been received with royal honours. He was truly a great boost for Australia and, like every other Australian, I mourn his passing. In my opinion, there is nothing maudlin in a nation mourning the loss of a racehorse when that horse is Phar Lap."

Cultural impact

Several books and films have been written about the horse, including the 1983 movie Phar Lap or Phar Lap: Heart of a Nation. A song, "Phar Lap—Farewell To You", was also written.

Phar Lap was one of five inaugural inductees into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, alongside other turf notables Carbine, Tulloch, Bernborough, and Kingston Town. In the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th century, Phar Lap was ranked No. 22.

A $500,000 life-sized bronze memorial to Phar Lap is to be created at Timaru where Phar Lap was born.

In Australia, students grow up learning about Phar Lap at school and the horse features in the Australian citizenship test.

Racing record

1928-29 season as a two year old

1929-30 season as a three year old

1930-31 season as a four year old

1931-32 season as a five year old

TOTAL: 51 starts - 37 wins, 3 seconds, 2 thirds, 9 unplaced

Pedigree

See also

• Repeat winners of horse races

Notes

1. Portraits - Phar Lap
2. "Lightning". Phar Lap: Australia's wonder horse. Museum Victoria.
3. Phil Purser. "Jack Baker rode himself into Australian racing history". Retrieved 2007-07-30.
4. "Phar Lap poisoned, scientists say". ABC News Online. 2006-10-23.
5. "Catalyst (2008 report on arsenic death of Phar Lap)". ABC News Online. 2008-06-19.
6. "Phar Lap arsenic claims premature: expert". ABC News Online. 2006-10-23.
7. Sydney Morning Herald: It's official, Phar Lap was poisoned
8. Yahoo! Sports: Phar Lap died of arsenic poisoning
9. Ugly colt to nation's hero
10. "Life-sized Phar Lap bronze to be created in Timaru". Horsetalk. 2006-08-03.

External links

• Download the video - Forensic Science proves the cause of Phar Lap's death, June 2008
• Phar Lap at Museum Victoria, Melbourne Australia
• Phar Lap at Te Papa, New Zealand
• Phar Lap's heart at the National Museum of Australia, Canberra
• Phar Lap at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).
• Australian Racing Museum and Hall of Fame
• Phar Lap Australia's Wonder Horse
• Digital Photo Collection on Phar Lap

• 1926 racehorse births
• 1932 racehorse deaths
• Australian Racing Hall of Fame horses
• New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame inductees
• New Zealand racehorses
• Thoroughbred racehorses
• Racehorses bred in New Zealand
• Racehorses trained in Australia
• Australian racehorses
• Horse racing in New Zealand
• Melbourne Cup winners
• Cox Plate winners