Phar Lap

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For the film about the racehorse, see
Phar Lap (company)
.

Phar Lap
Rosehill Racecourse
Last updated on 29 April 2009[2]

Phar Lap (4 October 1926 – 5 April 1932) was a New Zealand-born champion Australian

weight-for-age races.[4][5]

One of his greatest performances was winning the Agua Caliente Handicap in Mexico in track-record time in his final race.[6] He won in a different country, after a bad start many lengths behind the leaders, with no training before the race, and he split his hoof during the race.

After a sudden and mysterious illness, Phar Lap died in 1932 in

Museum of New Zealand, and his heart at the National Museum of Australia.[1][8]

Name

The name Phar Lap derives from the common Zhuang and Thai word for lightning: ฟ้าแลบ [fáː lɛ̂p], literally 'sky flash'.[9]

Phar Lap was called "The Wonder Horse," "The Red Terror," and "Big Red" (the latter nickname was also given to two of the greatest United States racehorses,

Man o' War and Secretariat). He was affectionately known as "Bobby" to his strapper Tommy Woodcock[10][11] He was also sometimes referred to as "Australia's Wonder Horse."[12]

According to the

Museum of Victoria, Aubrey Ping, a medical student at the University of Sydney, suggested "farlap" as the horse's name. Ping knew the word from his father, a Zhuang-speaking Chinese immigrant. Phar Lap's trainer Harry 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.[13]

Early life

A

chestnut gelding, Phar Lap was foaled on 4 October 1926 in Seadown[5] near Timaru in the South Island of New Zealand.[14] He was sired by Night Raid from Entreaty by Winkie. He was by the same sire as the Melbourne Cup winner Nightmarch. Phar Lap was a brother to seven other horses, Fortune's Wheel, Nea Lap (won 5 races), Nightguard, All Clear, Friday Night, Te Uira and Raphis, none of which won a principal (stakes) race. He was a half-brother to another four horses, only two of which were able to win any races at all.[15]

Sydney trainer Harry Telford persuaded American businessman 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 at the 1928 Trentham Yearling Sales. When the horse was obtained for a mere 160 guineas, he thought it 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 any winnings.[16] Telford leased the horse for three years and was eventually sold joint ownership by Davis.[16]

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

Racing career

Phar Lap finished last in the first race and did not place in his next three races. He won his first race on 27 April 1929, the

James L. Munro
.

As his achievements grew, there were some who tried to halt his progress. Criminals tried to shoot Phar Lap[10][18] on the morning of Saturday 1 November 1930 after he had finished track work. They missed, and later that day he won the Melbourne Stakes, and three days later the Melbourne Cup as odds-on favourite at 8 to 11.[19]

Phar Lap Jim Pike and Chide W.Cook Randwick Racecourse 1931
Phar Lap winning the Melbourne Cup Race from Second Wind and Shadow King on 4 November 1930

In the four years of his racing career, Phar Lap won 37 of 51 races he entered, including the

Jim Pike, in 1930 with 9 st 12 lb (138 pounds (63 kg)).[20] 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 (150 pounds (68 kg)).

Phar Lap at the time was owned by American businessman David J. Davis and leased to Telford. After their three-year lease agreement ended, Telford had enough money to become joint owner of the horse. Davis then had Phar Lap shipped to North America to race. Telford did not agree with this decision and refused to go, so Davis, who along with his wife traveled to Mexico with him, brought Phar Lap's strapper

Agua Caliente Racetrack near Tijuana, Mexico, to compete in the Agua Caliente Handicap, which was offering the largest prize money ever offered in North America racing. Phar Lap won in track-record time while carrying 129 pounds (58.5 kg). The horse was ridden by Australian jockey Billy Elliot for his seventh win from seven rides.[21] 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

haemorrhaged
to death. An autopsy revealed that the horse's stomach and intestines were inflamed, leading many to believe 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.[22]

Phar Lap's skin was preserved by Louis Paul Jonas and is now exhibited as a taxidermy mount by Melbourne Museum.

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 US gangsters, who feared the Melbourne Cup-winning champion would inflict big losses on their illegal bookmakers.[23][24] No real evidence of involvement by a criminal element exists, however.[25]

Sydney veterinarian Percy Sykes believes deliberate 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 percent of the horses had arsenic in their system."[26]

In December 2007, Phar Lap's mane was tested for multiple doses of arsenic which, if found, would point to accidental poisoning.

In April 2008, an 82-page handwritten notebook belonging to Telford and containing recipes for tonics given to Phar Lap in the days before swabbing was sold by a Melbourne auction house. It showed that Phar Lap was given tonics designed to boost his performance that included arsenic, strychnine, cocaine and caffeine.[27] The find gave credence to Woodcock's deathbed admission in 1985 that Phar Lap may have been given an overdose of a tonic before the horse died in 1932. The notebook was sold to the Melbourne Museum for $37,000.

On 19 June 2008, the Melbourne Museum released the findings of the forensic investigation conducted by Ivan Kempson, University of South Australia, and Dermot Henry, Natural Science Collections at Museum Victoria. Kempson analysed six hairs from Phar Lap's mane at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory near 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".[28][29]

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.[30]

In October 2011 the

Sydney Morning Herald published an article in which a New Zealand physicist and information from Phar Lap's strapper state that the great horse was never given any tonic with arsenic and that he died of an infection.[31] Said Putt, "Unless we are prepared to say that Tommy Woodcock
was a downright liar, which even today, decades after the loveable and respected horseman's death, would ostracise us with the Australian racing public, we must accept him on his word. The ineluctable conclusion we are left with, whether we like it or not, is that Phar Lap's impeccable achievements here and overseas were utterly tonic, stimulant, and drug-free."

Contradicting this is the tonic book of Harry Telford, Phar Lap's owner and trainer, on display in Museum Victoria, Melbourne. One recipe for a "general tonic" has a main ingredient of arsenic and has written below it: "A great tonic for all horses".[32] Several theories have been proposed for the large amount of arsenic in Phar Lap's body.

Legacy

Phar Lap's heart at the National Museum of Australia. It was formerly held by the Institute of Anatomy in Canberra.

Following his death, Phar Lap's heart was donated to the Institute of Anatomy in

New Zealand's National Museum in Wellington. After preparations of the hide by New York City taxidermist Louis Paul Jonas,[33] Phar Lap's stuffed body was placed in the Australia Gallery at Melbourne Museum. The hide and the skeleton were put on exhibition together when Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa lent the skeleton to the Melbourne Museum in September 2010 as part of celebrations for the 150th running of the 2010 Melbourne Cup.[34]

Phar Lap's heart was remarkable for its size, weighing 6.2 kilograms (14 lb), compared with a normal horse's heart at 3.2 kilograms (7.1 lb). Now held at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, it is the object visitors most often request to see. The author and film maker Peter Luck was convinced the heart is a fake. In Luck's 1979 television series This Fabulous Century, the daughter of Walker Neilson, the government veterinarian who performed the first post-mortem on Phar Lap, says her father told her the heart was necessarily cut to pieces during the autopsy, and the heart on display is that of a draughthorse.[35] However the expression "a heart as big as Phar Lap" to describe a very generous or courageous person became a popular idiom.[36][37]

Several books and films have featured Phar Lap, including the 1983 film Phar Lap, and the song "Phar Lap—Farewell To You".

Phar Lap was one of five inaugural inductees into both the

Top 100 U.S. Thoroughbred champions of the 20th century
, Phar Lap was ranked No. 22.

The horse is considered to be a national icon in both Australia and New Zealand.[38][39][40] In 1978 he was honoured on a postage stamp issued by Australia Post[41] and features in the Australian citizenship test.[42]

Phar Lap has been honoured with a $500,000 life-sized bronze memorial near his birthplace in

Timaru, New Zealand, that was unveiled on 25 November 2009.[39] The statue is located at the entrance to Phar Lap Raceway in Washdyke.[43] There is also a life-sized bronze statue at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.[44]

Phar Lap has several residential streets named after him in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. (In many cases, the name is merged into a single word "Pharlap".)

In 1931,

Hippocampus.[48][49]

1930 racebook

  • Front cover 1930 AJC St Leger racebook
    Front cover 1930 AJC St Leger racebook
  • Inside cover of the 1930 AJC St Leger showing raceday officials
    Inside cover of the 1930 AJC St Leger showing raceday officials
  • 1930 AJC St Leger showing the winner, Phar Lap
    1930 AJC St Leger showing the winner, Phar Lap
  • 1930 AJC St Leger raceday showing music entertainment for patrons
    1930 AJC St Leger raceday showing music entertainment for patrons
  • Raceday catering arrangements and racecourse detectives
    Raceday catering arrangements and racecourse detectives
  • Back cover showing charges at the entrance gates
    Back cover showing charges at the entrance gates

Race record

1928/1929: Two-year-old season

Result Race Date Distance Weight Winner or 2nd Pos'n
13th RRC Nursery Hcp 23/02/1929 51⁄2f 6.11 Exact 1st
7th Hawkesbury Two Year Old Hcp 02/03/1929 5f 7.3 Sheila 1st
– RRC Nursery Hcp 16/03/1929 6f 6.7 My Talisman 1st
8th AJC Easter Stakes 01/04/1929 7f 7.6 Carradale 1st
Won RRC Maiden Juvenile Hcp 27/04/1929 6f 7.9 Voleuse 2nd

1929/1930: Three-year-old season

Result Race Date Distance Weight Winner or 2nd Pos'n
– AJC Denham Court Hcp 03/08/1929 6f 7.2 Killarney 1st
4th RRC Three Year Old Hcp 17/08/1929 7f 7.13 Firbolg / King Crow 1st
8th RRC Three & Four Year Old Hcp 24/08/1929 7f 7.6 Ticino 1st
4th
AJC Warwick Stakes
(wfa) 		31/08/1929 8f 7.6 Limerick 1st
2nd Tatts Chelmsford Stakes (wfa) 14/09/1929 9f 7.6 Mollison 1st
Won RRC Rosehill Guineas 21/09/1929 9f 8.5 Lorason 2nd
Won
AJC Derby
 05/10/1929 12f 8.10 Carradale 2nd
Won AJC Craven Plate (wfa) 09/10/1929 10f 7.8 Mollison 2nd
Won
VRC Derby
 02/11/1929 12f 8.10 Carradale 2nd
3rd VRC Melbourne Cup 05/11/1929 2 m 7.6 Nightmarch 1st
3rd
VATC St George Stakes
(wfa) 		15/02/1930 9f 8.10 Amounis 1st
Won VRC St Leger Stakes 01/03/1930 14f 8.10 Sir Ribble 2nd
Won VRC Governor's Plate (wfa) 06/03/1930 12f 7.13 Lineage 2nd
Won VRC King's Plate (wfa) 08/03/1930 2 m 7.11 Second Wind 2nd
Won AJC Chipping Norton Stakes (wfa) 12/04/1930 10f 8.10 Amounis 2nd
Won AJC St Leger 19/04/1930 14f 8.10 Sir Ribble 2nd
Won AJC Cumberland Stakes (wfa) 23/04/1930 14f 8.1 Donald 2nd
Won AJC Plate (wfa) 26/04/1930 21⁄4 m 7.13 Nightmarch 2nd
Won SAJC Elder Stakes (wfa) 10/05/1930 9f 8.4 Fruition 2nd
Won King's Cup 17/05/1930 12f 9.5 Nadean 2nd

1930/1931: Four-year-old season

Result Race Date Distance Weight Winner or 2nd Pos'n
2nd
AJC Warwick Stakes
(wfa) 		30/08/1930 8f 8.11 Amounis 1st
Won Tatts Chelmsford Stakes (wfa) 13/09/1930 9f 9.4 Nightmarch 2nd
Won RRC Hill Stakes (wfa) 20/09/1930 8f 9.4 Nightmarch 2nd
Won AJC Spring Stakes (wfa) 04/10/1930 12f 8.11 Nightmarch 2nd
Won AJC Craven Plate (wfa) 08/10/1930 10f 8.11 Nightmarch 2nd
Won AJC Randwick Plate (wfa) 11/10/1930 2 m 8.11 Donald 2nd
Won MVRC W. S. Cox Plate (wfa) 25/10/1930 91⁄2f 8.11 Tregilla 2nd
Won
VRC Melbourne Stakes
(wfa) 		01/11/1930 10f 8.11 Tregilla 2nd
Won VRC Melbourne Cup 04/11/1930 2 m 9.12 Second Wind 2nd
Won VRC Linlithgow Stakes (wfa) 06/11/1930 8f 8.12 Mollison 2nd
Won VRC C.B. Fisher Plate (wfa) 08/11/1930 12f 8.12 Second Wind 2nd
Won
VATC St George Stakes
(wfa) 		14/02/1931 9f 9.7 Induna 2nd
Won
VATC Futurity Stakes
(wfa) 		21/02/1931 7f 10.3 Mystic Peak 2nd
Won VRC Essendon Stakes (wfa) 28/02/1931 10f 8.7 Lampra 2nd
Won VRC King's Plate (wfa) 04/03/1931 12f 9.7 Glare 2nd
2nd VRC C.M. Lloyd Stakes (wfa) 07/03/1931 8f 9.7 Waterline 1st

1931/1932: Five-year-old season

Result Race Date Distance Weight Winner or 2nd Pos'n
Won
WRC Underwood Stakes
(wfa) 		25/08/1931 8f 9.0 Rondalina 2nd
Won VATC Memsie Stakes (wfa) 05/09/1931 9f 9.8 Rondalina 2nd
Won RRC Hill Stakes (wfa) 19/09/1931 8f 9.0 Chide 2nd
Won AJC Spring Stakes (wfa) 03/10/1931 12f 9.2 Chide 2nd
Won AJC Craven Plate (wfa) 07/10/1931 10f 9.1 Pentheus 2nd
Won AJC Randwick Plate (wfa) 10/10/1931 16f 9.3 Chide 2nd
Won MVRC W. S. Cox Plate (wfa) 24/10/1931 10f 9.4 Chatham 2nd
Won
VRC Melbourne Stakes
(wfa) 		31/10/1931 10f 9.1 Concentrate 2nd
8th VRC Melbourne Cup 03/11/1931 16f 10.10 White Nose 1st
Won Agua Caliente Hcp 20/03/1932 10f 9.3 Reveille Boy 2nd

Total: 51 starts – 37 wins, 3 seconds, 2 thirds, 2 fourths, 7 unplaced

Pedigree

Pedigree of Phar Lap (NZ) (2-r), chestnut gelding, 1926
Sire
Night Raid (GB)
B. 1918 		Radium (GB)
B. 1903 		Bend Or Doncaster
Rouge Rose
Taia Donovan
Eira
Sentiment (GB)
B. 1912 		Spearmint Carbine (NZ)
Maid of the Mint
Flair St. Frusquin
Glare
Dam
Entreaty (NZ)
Blk. 1920 		Winkie (GB)
Ch. 1912 		William the Third St.Simon
Gravity
Conjure Juggler
Connie
Prayer Wheel (NZ)
B. 1905 		Pilgrim's Progress Isonomy
Pilgrimage
Catherine Wheel Maxim
Miss Kate (F-No.2-r)

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Phar Lap". The Australian Racing Museum. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  2. ^ "Pedigree". Pedigreequery.com. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  3. ^ "Phar Lap Forever". The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. November 2017. p. 1. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Phar Lap". Thoroughbred Heritage. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  5. ^ a b "Story of Phar Lap". pharlap.org.nz. Archived from the original on 29 August 2009. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  6. ^ "Phar Lap, Agua Caliente". Museum of Victoria. p. 1. Archived from the original on 31 July 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  7. ISBN 0 9577471 9 5
    .
  8. ^ "Phar Lap's heart at the National Museum of Australia". Archived from the original on 21 June 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  9. ^ "Lightning". Phar Lap: Australia's wonder horse. Museum Victoria. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  10. ^ a b "The Phar Lap Story". Archived from the original on 14 May 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  11. ^ "Phar Lap called Bobby round the stables". Mountainhomeplace.com. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  12. ^ "Phar Lap". Museum Victoria. Archived from the original on 6 June 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  13. ^ Museum Victoria. "Background to the naming of Phar Lap – Museum of Victoria". Museumvictoria.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 December 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  14. ^ "The Horse". Museum Victoria. Archived from the original on 7 June 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  15. ISBN 0-908133-00-6
  16. ^ a b c "Phar Lap (1926–1932)". Te Papa. p. 2. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  17. ^ Phil Purser. "Jack Baker rode himself into Australian racing history". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2007.
  18. ^ "Shot fired at Phar Lap". Trove.nla.gov.au. 3 November 1930. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  19. ^ Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewar. "Collections:Phar Lap". Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  20. ^ "Phar Lap wins the cup". Trove.nla.gov.au. 5 November 1930. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  21. ^ Moriarty, Richard (28 October 2006). "Blame 'The Brazilian'". News.com.au. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  22. ISBN 978-1-74114-750-6
    .
  23. ^ "Phar Lap poisoned, scientists say". ABC News Online. 23 October 2006.
  24. ^ "PHAR LAP WAS POISONED". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 19 September 1936. p. 11. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
  25. ^ "Catalyst (2008 report on arsenic death of Phar Lap)". ABC News Online. 19 June 2008.
  26. ^ "Phar Lap arsenic claims premature: expert". ABC News Online. 23 October 2006.
  27. ^ "Phar Lap notebook sells for $37,000". The Age/Australian Associated Press. 24 April 2008.
  28. ^ "Sydney Morning Herald: It's official, Phar Lap was poisoned". Smh.com.au. 19 June 2008. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  29. PMID 20432493
    .
  30. ^ "Yahoo! Sports: Phar Lap died of arsenic poisoning". Sports.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 27 June 2008. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  31. ^ "Phar Lap poisoning theory down the drain". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  32. ^ "Tonic Book – Harry Telford, Phar Lap, 1930s". Archived from the original on 24 April 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  33. ^ Wallquist, Calla (3 October 2016). "Phar Lap's 90th birthday". www.TheGuardian.com. Guardian News & Media. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  34. Wikidata Q106839617
    .
  35. ^ David Dale, "Fakes & Fictions", Sydney Morning Herald, 18 September 1999, Spectrum, p.7s
  36. ISBN 9812347992
    .
  37. ISBN 978-0195565782
    .
  38. ^ "Sportsmen and women (... and a horse and a boat)". Australian Government. Australian High Commission – New Zealand. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
  39. ^ a b "Phar Lap's return to Timaru". The Phar Lap Trust. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  40. ^ "Minister promotes Spring Racing Carnival in New Zealand". From the Minister for Racing, Minister for tourism. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
  41. ^ http://www.australianstamp.com/images/large/0012460.jpg [bare URL image file]
  42. ^ "Just how Australian are you?". Democrats.org.au. 5 October 2007. Archived from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  43. ^ "Phar Lap sculpture unveiled in Timaru". Radio New Zealand. 26 November 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  44. ^ Photo of the statue of Phar Lap at Flemington Racecourse – National Library of Australia
  45. ^ Whitley, Gilbert P. (1931). "New Names for Australian Fishes". The Australian Zoologist. 6 (4): 313.
  46. ^ Whitley, Gilbert; Allan, Joyce (1958). "Phar Lap, The Short-Snouted or Yellow-Ringed Sea Horse". The Sea-Horse and its Relatives. Melbourne: Georgian House. p. 35.
  47. ISBN 978-1-101-13376-7
    .
  48. doi:10.5479/si.00963801.83-2997.497
    .
  49. doi:10.3853/j.0067-1975.53.2001.1350
    .

External links

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