Phar Lap (4 October 1926 – 5 April 1932) was a New Zealand-born champion AustralianThoroughbredracehorse. Achieving great success during his distinguished career, his initial underdog status gave people hope during the early years of theGreat Depression.[3] He won theMelbourne Cup, twoCox Plates, theAustralian Derby, and 19 otherweight-for-age races. He is universally revered as one of the greatest race horses of all time, not just in Australia but in the history of Thoroughbred horse racing.[4][5]
One of his greatest performances was winning theAgua Caliente Handicap inMexico 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 inMenlo Park, California.[7] At the time, he was the third-highest stakes-winner in the world. Hismounted hide is displayed at theMelbourne Museum, his skeleton at theMuseum of New Zealand, and his heart at theNational Museum of Australia.[1][8]
The name Phar Lap derives from the commonZhuang andThai word for lightning: ฟ้าแลบ[fáːlɛ̂p], 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 andSecretariat). He was affectionately known as "Bobby" to hisstrapperTommy Woodcock[10][11] He was also sometimes referred to as "Australia's Wonder Horse."[12]
According to theMuseum of Victoria, Aubrey Ping, a medical student at theUniversity of Sydney, suggested "Farlap" as the horse's name. Ping knew the word from his father, a Zhuang-speaking Chinese immigrant. Phar Lap's trainerHarry 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]
Achestnutgelding, Phar Lap was foaled on 4 October 1926 in Seadown[5] nearTimaru in theSouth Island of New Zealand.[14] He wassired byNight Raid fromEntreaty by Winkie. He was by the same sire as theMelbourne Cup winnerNightmarch. 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 190guineas at the 1928Trentham 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.
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, theMaiden Juvenile Handicap at Rosehill, ridden by Jack Baker ofArmidale, a 17-year-oldapprentice.[17] 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. He won the Rosehill Guineas by three lengths on 21 September 1929, ridden byJames 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]
In the four years of his racing career, Phar Lap won 37 of 51 races he entered, including theMelbourne Cup, being ridden byJim 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 theVRC 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 strapperTommy Woodcock as his new trainer.[16] Phar Lap was shipped by boat toAgua Caliente Racetrack nearTijuana,Mexico, to compete in theAgua 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 jockeyBilly Elliot for his seventh win from seven rides.[21] From there, the horse was sent to a private ranch nearMenlo Park, California, while his owner negotiated with racetrack officials for special race appearances.
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Early on 5 April 1932, the horse'sstrapper for the North American visit,Tommy Woodcock, found him in severe pain and with a high temperature. Within a few hours, Phar Laphaemorrhaged 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 ofduodenitis-proximal jejunitis, an acute bacterialgastroenteritis.[22]
In 2006,Australian Synchrotron research scientists said it was almost certain Phar Lapwas poisoned with a large single dose ofarsenic 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 illegalbookmakers.[23][24] No 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'smane 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 theAdvanced Photon Source atArgonne National Laboratory nearChicago. 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 thetaxidermy 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 theSydney 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 thatTommy 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]
Following his death, Phar Lap's heart was donated to the Institute of Anatomy inCanberra and his skeleton to theNew Zealand's National Museum inWellington. After preparations of the hide by New York City taxidermistLouis Paul Jonas,[33] Phar Lap's stuffed body was placed in the Australia Gallery atMelbourne Museum. The hide and the skeleton were put on exhibition together whenMuseum 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 the2010 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 theNational Museum of Australia in Canberra, it is the object visitors most often request to see. The author and film makerPeter Luck was convinced the heart is a fake. In Luck's 1979 television seriesThis 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 filmPhar Lap, and the song "Phar Lap—Farewell To You". His story was fictionalised in the 1934 filmA Ticket in Tatts and the 1936 filmThoroughbred.[38]
Phar Lap was one of five inaugural inductees into both theAustralian Racing Hall of Fame andNew Zealand Racing Hall of Fame. In theBlood-Horse magazine ranking of theTop 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.[39][40][41] In 1978 he was honoured on apostage stamp issued byAustralia Post[42] and features in theAustralian citizenship test.[43]
Phar Lap has been honoured with a $500,000 life-sized bronze memorial near his birthplace inTimaru, New Zealand, that was unveiled on 25 November 2009.[40] The statue is located at the entrance to Phar Lap Raceway inWashdyke.[44] There is also a life-sized bronze statue atFlemington Racecourse inMelbourne.[45]
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,Gilbert Percy Whitley, an ichthyologist at theAustralian Museum, proposed a new genus of seahorse,Farlapiscis,[46] named after Phar Lap.[47][48]Farlapiscis was subsequently categorised as ajunior synonym of the genusHippocampus.[49][50]
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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
| 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) |
