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34-489: Many champions have been victorious in this race, including Phar Lap , Ajax , Tulloch , Dulcify , Kingston Town , Octagonal , Naturalism and Tie The Knot . Time record: † Change in scheduling of race from spring to autumn Phar Lap Phar Lap (4 October 1926 – 5 April 1932) was a New Zealand-born champion Australian Thoroughbred racehorse . Achieving great success during his distinguished career, his initial underdog status gave people hope during

68-600: 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 Menlo Park, California . At the time, he was the third-highest stakes-winner in the world. His mounted hide is displayed at the Melbourne Museum , his skeleton at the Museum of New Zealand , and his heart at

102-732: A main ingredient of arsenic and has written below it: "A great tonic for all horses". Several theories have been proposed for the large amount of arsenic in Phar Lap's body. 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 New York City taxidermist Louis Paul Jonas , Phar Lap's stuffed body

136-460: 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

170-472: 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. 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

204-530: A race are referred to as maidens. Maiden horse races are held over a variety of distances and under conditions with eligibility based on the sex or age of the horse. Races may be handicaps, set weights, or weight for age. In many countries, maiden races are the lowest level of class and represent an entry point into a racing career. In countries such as the United States, maiden special weight races rank above claiming races , while maiden claiming races allow

238-465: A race on the flat. Likewise, flat race winners are eligible to enter hurdle or steeple maidens if they have not won the relevant type of jumps race. Numerous famous horses have commenced racing in maiden events before graduation through the classes of racing. Most horses either win their maiden or are retired from racing if they are unable to do so. Some horses though have lengthy careers as maidens and become famous for their lack of success. Zippy Chippy

272-645: 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

306-413: 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 . In 2006, Australian Synchrotron Research scientists said it was almost certain Phar Lap was poisoned with a large single dose of arsenic in

340-510: Is among the most famous maidens of all time, having 100 starts without winning, although placing 30 times and earning over $ 30,000 in prize money. In Australia, Vote For Lust won a competition run by betting exchange Betfair to find the country's worst racehorse, resulting in Betfair sponsoring the nine-year-old. As of 17 May 2012, Vote For Lust had raced 86 times without winning (placing 10 times and earning over $ 20,000 in prize money), but, as

374-483: 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. 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

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408-475: The Australian Museum , proposed a new genus of seahorse, Farlapiscis , named after Phar Lap. Farlapiscis was subsequently categorized as a junior synonym of the genus Hippocampus . Total: 51 starts – 37 wins, 3 seconds, 2 thirds, 2 fourths, 7 unplaced Maiden race horse In horse racing a maiden race is an event for horses that have not won a race. Horses that have not won

442-679: The Blood-Horse magazine ranking of 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. In 1978 he was honoured on a postage stamp issued by Australia Post and features in the Australian citizenship test . Phar Lap has been honoured with a $ 500,000 life-sized bronze memorial near his birthplace in Timaru, New Zealand , that

476-777: The Maiden Juvenile Handicap 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. He won the Rosehill Guineas by three lengths on 21 September 1929, ridden by James L. Munro . As his achievements grew, there were some who tried to halt his progress. Criminals tried to shoot Phar Lap on

510-533: 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

544-446: The National Museum of Australia . The name Phar Lap derives from the common Zhuang and Thai word for lightning: ฟ้าแลบ [fáː lɛ̂p] , literally 'sky flash'. 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 He

578-531: 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

612-595: 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

646-531: The autopsy, and the heart on display is that of a draughthorse. However the expression "a heart as big as Phar Lap" to describe a very generous or courageous person became a popular idiom. 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 Australian Racing Hall of Fame and New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame . In

680-426: 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. 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,

714-647: The dominant naming pattern of Melbourne Cup winners. A chestnut gelding , Phar Lap was foaled on 4 October 1926 in Seadown near Timaru in the South Island of New Zealand. 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

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748-694: The early years of the Great Depression . He won the Melbourne Cup , two Cox Plates , the Australian Derby , and 19 other weight-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. One of his greatest performances was winning the Agua Caliente Handicap in Mexico in track-record time in his final race. He won in

782-402: 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. In October 2011

816-444: The horse for nothing, in exchange for a two-thirds share of any winnings. Telford leased the horse for three years and was eventually sold joint ownership by Davis. 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,

850-460: The horse to be claimed (bought) by another owner. Generally, horses have to be maidens (non-winners) at the time of the race. In regions where jumping races take place, flat racing and jumps racing are sometimes treated as two distinct forms of racing and winning in one category does not preclude a horse entering a maiden in the other. For example, a horse can win multiple jumps races and still be eligible to enter maiden flat races if they have not won

884-478: The horse's strapper for the North American visit, Tommy Woodcock , found him in severe pain and with a high temperature. Within a few hours, Phar Lap 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

918-404: 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 Tommy Woodcock as his new trainer. Phar Lap was shipped by boat to Agua Caliente Racetrack near Tijuana , Mexico , to compete in the Agua Caliente Handicap , which was offering

952-481: 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 . No real evidence of involvement by a criminal element exists, however. Sydney veterinarian Percy Sykes believes deliberate poisoning did not cause the death. He said "In those days, arsenic

986-484: 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. 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. Early on 5 April 1932,

1020-582: 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. In the four years of his racing career, Phar Lap won 37 of 51 races he entered, including the Melbourne Cup , being ridden by Jim Pike , in 1930 with 9 st 12 lb (138 pounds (63 kg)). In that year and 1931, he won 14 races in

1054-481: Was also sometimes referred to as "Australia's Wonder Horse." 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

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1088-590: 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 . 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

1122-489: 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." 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

1156-536: Was unveiled on 25 November 2009. The statue is located at the entrance to Phar Lap Raceway in Washdyke . There is also a life-sized bronze statue at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne . 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

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