Phar Lap raced 51 times for 37 wins, three seconds and two thirds. His brilliant career was cut short when he died in North America in suspicious circumstances.
Phar Lap was foaled in Timaru, New Zealand, in 1926. He died in the United States on April 5, 1932, at Menlo Park, California.
Big Red
A chestnut (near red) racehorse, Phar Lap was often referred to as "Big Red." His race colors included a red jacket and red cap in 1929-30; and a red jacket and red and green hooped sleeves in 1931-32.
He was 17.1 hands (1.74 metres) in height.
Biggest wins
His biggest wins were the Agua Caliente Handicap (Mexico), Melbourne Cup, AJC Derby, Victoria Derby, and the WS Cox Plate twice.
In an amazing feat in 1930, he won a race on each of the four days of the 1930 Flemington spring carnival, including the Melbourne Cup with 15 pounds (6.8 kilograms) more than weight-for-age.
Death in America
Phar Lap was taken to America where he won North America's richest race, the Agua Caliente Handicap, in Mexico just south of San Diego, California, in 1932.
A fortnight later he was struck by a mysterious illness and died in California, with the suspicion that he was killed by North American gangsters.
'Poisoned'
In October 2006, a news.com.au report revealed that secret scientific tests using breakthrough technology had "uncovered evidence the legendary racehorse was poisoned with arsenic just hours before his 1932 death."
Scientists used a US synchrotron, or particle accelerator, to unlock the 74-year-old riddle of Phar Lap's mysterious death, news.com.au reported.
In June 2008, two researchers — Dr Ivan Kempson from the University of South Australia and Dermot Henry, manager of Natural Science Collections at Museum Victoria — confirmed through extensive forensic study that in the 40 hours leading up to Phar Lap's death in California in April 1932 the horse had ingested a massive dose of arsenic.
Whoever gave the poison — and whether it was an intentional or accidental act — remain a mystery.
Museum presence
Today Phar Lap resides in the Melbourne Museum, as the most popular exhibit: a life-like monument to his greatness. His mammoth 14-pound heart is in the National Museum in Canberra, while his skeleton is displayed in the Dominion Museum in Wellington.
- Phar Lap’s abnormally large heart is a popular object in the National Historical Collection at the National Museum of Australia. The heart weighs 6.2 kilograms (the average for a horse is 4 kilograms). Photo courtesy of National Museum of Australia.
