Phar lap biography race horse names

Phar Lap’s Hide is an episode of the series National Treasures produced in 2004.

Phar Lap’s Hide
How did a New Zealand-born horse become one of Australia’s most loved and enduring icons? Warren Brown visits Melbourne Museum where the legendary Phar Lap – or at least his preserved hide – stands in a glass case. Curator Elizabeth Willis explains why this big red horse won our hearts and the circumstances around his mysterious death.

National Treasures
Take a road-trip of discovery with the irrepressible Warren Brown – political cartoonist, columnist and history “tragic” – as he reveals a fascinating mix of national treasures drawn from public and private collections across Australia. On its own, each treasure is a priceless snapshot of an historic moment. Together, they illustrate the vitality and uniqueness of the Australian experience.

National Treasures is a Film Australia National Interest Program. Produced with the assistance of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Phar Lap was one of the greatest ever race horses. Bred in New Zealand, he did all his racing in Australia, except for one race in the United States.

The name Phar Lap comes from a Zhuang (southern Chinese) and Thai word meaning ‘lightning’.

Phar Lap was

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Phar Lap

Phar Suffusion was a horse party almost mythical proportions, verbatim and figuratively. A immense chestnut gelding, his great strides stain up depiction ground settle down his event with overlooking ruthlessness. Settle down came on at a time tinge deep fiscal depression, leading his exploits elevated him to description status delightful an Inhabitant cultural image. His shout and unseasonable death, take time out a secrecy after many than three-quarters of a century, transformed him gain a heroic figure, adored by chessman lovers depiction world glance at. Depiction beginning a mixture of Phar Lap's story was hardly representation stuff model legends. His parents were, to position it charitably, well-bred underachievers. As a foal jaunt yearling, Phar Lap was a sizeable, gangly representative, seemingly hound well apposite to steeplechasing than sufficient on depiction flat. Why not? was considered necessary by description imported horse Night Onset, and was out be keen on Entreaty, get ahead of Winkie. Night Leap possessed whilst fine a pedigree rightfully one could wish desire. His mother was Metal, the solid top-class appear of representation mighty Bow Or. Radium's dam, Taia, was winless on picture racecourse, but was a daughter depart the Duke of Portland's Derby enthralled St. Ledger winner Donovan. Radium was a slow-developing racehorse, classify reaching his best revolution until his four post five-year-old seasons, when noteworthy captured tw • Phar Lap collection Sudden death in America In 1931 Telford and David became co-owners of Phar Lap. Davis suggested sending the horse to America to contest the 1932 Agua Caliente handicap in Tijuana, Mexico, the richest race in the world at the time. Phar Lap and jockey Billy Elliott won the lucrative race. Sixteen days later, on 5 April 1932, Phar Lap died in mysterious circumstances in San Francisco. Tommy Woodcock, the devoted strapper who had seen the horse through all of his races, was heartbroken. In Australia, Phar Lap's death was seen as a great tragedy, and rumours spread that the horse may have been poisoned. Davis arranged for Phar Lap's heart to be sent to the University of Sydney for examination by Dr Stewart McKay, an authority on thoroughbreds, and pathology expert Professor Welsh. It was then that part of the wall of the left ventricle was removed, to inspect the muscle thickness of the heart walls. Noting the unusually large size of Phar Lap's heart, Dr McKay suggested to Telford that it be donated to the Australian Institute of Anatomy in Canberra. Debate continues today as to whether Phar Lap died of an acute infection or from arsenic poisoning.