Phar Lap.

Years ago i watched a film about a horse called Phar Lap, a true story of An Australian wonder horse that griped the whole of the nation, a brilliant film that for some reason is never shown today.

Here is a story about that wonder horse.

Name

The name Phar Lap derives from the shared Zhuang language and Thai word for lightning: ฟ้าแลบ [fáa lɛ̂p], lit. 'sky flash'.
Phar Lap was called the "Wonder Horse", "Red Terror", "Bobby" and "Big Red" (the latter nickname was also given to two of the greatest US racehorses, Man o' War and Secretariat). He was sometimes referred as "Australia's wonder horse".[who?] According to the Museum Victoria, Aubrey Ping, a student at the University of Sydney, suggested "farlap" as the horse's name. 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.


In Memory of Phar Lap - 1926-1932
by Elizabeth Batt

When you love horses, you love all horses. It matters not the breed, the size, nor the temperament... but sometimes a horse comes along that touches the heart like no other, one that reaches to the core of you and grabs your soul. That horse for me is Phar Lap.

We all have our horse heroes, some fictitious and some that are legends in history and Phar Lap is a legend that no horse lover can ever forget. Perhaps it was because he was seen as an underdog, bought cheaply for 336.00 Australian dollars, a far cry from the blue-blooded racehorse used to gracing the racetracks of Australia? Or perhaps it was because he became a people's champion? Or maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with that great big heart of his?

At 17 hands, Phar Lap was a big horse but when he arrived in Australia, he was scrawny and covered with warts. His new owner, David Davis, was not at all pleased with his trainer Harry Telford, who had purchased the horse on Davis's behalf. In fact Davis was so unimpressed he leased the horse to Harry for three years, ensuring that the horse's board and lodgings would not come out of his own pocket!


Telford however believed that the big gelding had breeding and he was determined to prove it. Starting Phar Lap on a brutal training regime, Telford worked the horse near to death. The horse's only saving grace was a young strapper named Tommy Woodcock. Tommy and Bobby (Phar Lap's stable name), became so close and formed such a bond, that Phar Lap wouldn't eat unless Tommy was nearby.


Despite Telford's training, Phar Lap still remained disinterested and lazy about the world of racing and in 1929, Phar Lap remained unplaced. Tommy decided to give Phar Lap a challenge. While out training him one day, instead of having him run beside another horse, he held Bobby back and then asked him to catch-up. Bobby began to fly! Phar Lap is Thai for Lightning, the horse was finally living up to his name.


From then onwards Phar Lap never looked back. In his four years of racing, this wonderful horse notched up 37 wins and fourteen of those were all in a row. But sadly, when something is too good, there are those that have to bring it down.

When Phar Lap began winning, Australia was in the grip of the Great Depression. People were losing their jobs, businesses were folding and unemployment was high. All of a sudden, along came a 17-hand hope - Phar Lap. Phar Lap, or Big Red as his followers affectionately named him, was a sure bet, a champion whom they adored, a horse to take them out of the depression, even if for just a short while. A guaranteed winner however, was not something the bookmakers wanted, for whenever Phar Lap won, he cost them a fortune.

Phar Lap became a target, not only for bookmakers, but for those racehorse owners whose high dollar horses kept losing to a horse with a freakish turn of speed.


"The horse wasn't carrying enough weight," they said and with each race that Phar Lap ran, he was weighted more and more.


It was Derby day in Australia, the year was 1930 and Phar Lap would be running his race later that day. As Tommy led him from the racetrack towards the stables, someone in a passing car shot at Phar Lap. Tommy, who was riding a pony and leading Phar Lap, put himself between the gunman and Phar Lap and the horse not only escaped unharmed, he went on to win his race later that day.


A few days after this, on November 4, 1930, Phar Lap brought home the Melbourne Cup. This was a race that proved Phar Lap's heart was as big as his body, because despite carrying more weight than any other horse in the race, he won it easily. The following year, being forced to carry yet more weight in the 1931 Melbourne Cup, despite his heart and his desire to win, the weight proved too much and Phar Lap finished eighth. This would be Phar Lap's last Australian race. Phar Lap was on his way to Mexico.


The change in environment did not serve Phar Lap well but still despite the long journey and a broken hoof, he won the race in record time. Phar Lap had earned a rest and he was sent to California to recoup. It was while here, on April 5th, 1932 that Phar Lap got sick and much to the dismay and horror of Tommy Woodcock, his beloved Bobby died.


Rumors abounded that Phar Lap had been poisoned. This was a perfectly natural reaction to the shock of this great racehorse's death. Coupled with the previous attempt on his life, it is no surprise that this belief persisted. All were stunned by Phar Lap's death, he was a horse loved and adored on both continents. An autopsy showed that Phar Lap had inflamed intestines, a sure sign of poisoning. Various other explanations have since come to the fore, such as the ranch where Phar Lap was kept had been sprayed with insecticide. Others claimed Phar Lap died of colic, a horse's number one killer, but still people swore that Phar Lap had been deliberately poisoned. Some went so far as to suggest that Tommy Woodcock himself might have killed the horse

Recently in Phar Lap, a book written by Geoff Armstrong and Peter Thompson, the two authors suggested that Phar Lap died from a bacterial infection, common in horses that have traveled great distances. Seeing as this condition was unidentifiable at the time they say, it could not have been diagnosed.

In 1933, the mounted Phar Lap was given to the Museum of Victoria, where he is exhibited for all to see. Phar Lap really did have a big heart. He had one of the largest hearts ever found in a racehorse.