A century of Phar Lap

On the 28th of October, 1926, a scrawny, nondescript chestnut colt was born in a tent outside Timaru, New Zealand, at Seadown Stud. He was bred by Alick Roberts, who owned the stud and stood the stallion Night Raid, a modestly performing son of Radium who traced back to Carbine on his dam’s side.

By Night Raid out of Entreaty, the new colt was described as tall, lean, and common or plain. By the time he was presented for sale 15 months later, he had warts dotted across his face. None of which would attract the most optimistic of purchasers. He was sold as Lot 41 at the 1928 Trentham Sales, Wellington, to Hugh Telford for 160 Guineas, acting on behalf of his brother, Harry, a battling horse trainer from Sydney.

But as famous as this was at the beginning of Phar Lap’s story, it was merely an appetiser for what was to become one of the greatest rags-to-riches stories in Australian sport. Maybe therein lies the reason for his greatness.

Here’s a horse with a nondescript pedigree, nothing to suggest he would be capable of taking on the blue bloods of the turf. But he did, and he won – often. At one point, 36 from 41 starts.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of his birth, and he remains the benchmark for greatness in Australian racing. His legend continues to permeate the Australian vernacular when someone is said to have ‘a heart as big as Phar Lap’.

A unique compliment reflecting the values of a champion who, anatomically, had a heart one and a half times the size of a normal horse. 6.35 kg, to be exact. But while size was one thing, and he did stand at 17.1 hands high, it was his sheer brilliance and determination that set him apart from all others.

But 100 years on, one must ask: is Phar Lap still the greatest horse to race in Australia? With the emergence of trailblazers such as Makybe Diva, Black Caviar and Winx in recent years, has his story been somewhat surpassed by the current generation of superstars?

Well, the simple answer to that is ‘no’. He’s still the best and arguably the most significant racehorse this country has seen.

Bred in New Zealand and purchased by an Australian for an American owner, David Davis, his story is embedded in the Australian psyche.

What Bradman is to cricket, Phar Lap is to Australian horse racing.

But maybe it’s the circumstances surrounding his achievements that enhance the legend, away from the raw statistics.

For the record, he won 37 races from a career total of 51 race starts, for £66,738. After being unplaced in his first four starts, he broke his maiden at Rosehill in a six furlong Maiden Handicap.

In a somewhat misquoted remark, his jockey on that day, Jack Baker, would be recorded forever as saying, ‘He might be alright. He goes well, but I don’t think he’ll stay.’

In fairness to Baker, Phar Lap showed little early on to excite the racing pundits, and even his greatest admirer and trainer, Harry Telford, was unconvinced that his judgment would be vindicated. Finishing last at his first start had connections scratching their heads.

But patience is a great thing in racing, and as 12-time Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Bart Cummings once stated, it is seldom used. Phar Lap came back as a spring 3YO, and following a fourth to Limerick in the Warwick Stakes (9 furlongs) at Warwick Farm at his fourth start, he began to catch the eye of racing scribes. He also caught the attention of Jim Pike, the champion rider, who quickly sought to secure him as a mount for the upcoming spring features.

As the races started to get longer, this once scrawny colt, now a gelding, came into his own. He began to fill out his frame, build muscle, and adopt an imposing presence. But arguably his greatest asset was his temperament. As regular and champion race rider Jim Pike once said, ‘It is sacrilege, really, to ride some horses after once having been on the back of Phar Lap. He was a phenomenon, a treat to ride, and a kind and generous fellow throughout the race’.

Along with his heart, the length of his stride was also imposing. Just shy of 8 metres at its peak. The average stride length for a racehorse is 6 metres.

While running an unruly third in the 1929 Melbourne Cup as a 3YO behind Nightmarch, ridden by the legendary Bobby Lewis, it would be the Flemington spring meeting of 1930 that would become the platform for his legendary status. Easily accounting for four other runners, Phar Lap would win the Melbourne Stakes (1¼ miles on Derby Day) on the first day of the spring meeting.

He would then start the 8/11 favourite in the Melbourne Cup (2 miles) on day two, despite carrying the impost of 9 stone 12 pounds. He would become the shortest priced favourite to win the Cup in the history of the race. He would then back up two days later in the Linlithgow Stakes (1 mile) on day three, before securing the C.B Fisher Plate (1½ miles) on the fourth and final day of the meeting. There was no betting on the Fisher Plate.

No horse has ever achieved the feat before and none since. If for no other reason, Phar Lap’s winning sequence over eight days against the best on offer demands the highest praise. But with Phar Lap, there is more to it.

His arrival came at a time when Australia, as a nation, was on its knees. Outside of World Wars I and II, it was arguably the start of the toughest economic period in Australian history, the Great Depression, triggered by the US stock market crash of 1929.

Just over 30% of the workforce was unemployed, and the Great Depression had set in. There was little to get excited about, and Phar Lap became a welcome distraction. He became the bright light on what was clearly a dark horizon.

His 1930 Cup victory was surrounded by high drama, having been shot at only days before in Manchester Grove, adjacent to Caulfield Racecourse, following trackwork. It had all the hallmarks of a gangster movie, with the good guys looking to outmanoeuvre the not-so-good guys. Naturally, it was all about money, with Phar Lap set to empty the bags of bookmakers had he secured a Melbourne Cup victory.

After winning the Melbourne Stakes on Derby Day, he was taken to VRC Committeeman Guy Raymond’s St Albans Stud in Geelong. Three days later, he arrived at Australia’s biggest racing event, the Melbourne Cup, with a police escort. However, he nearly missed it because the horse float wouldn’t start.

His story had all the hallmarks of a thriller: drama, suspense, brilliance, and romance. Romance, in that Australians loved Phar Lap. He was their hero. He also had an inseparable bond with his handler, Tommy Woodcock, who knew Phar Lap better than anyone. The groom’s Melbourne Cup trophy, presented each year by the VRC, is named in honour of Tommy Woodcock.

But ultimately, Phar Lap’s story is about the ugly duckling turning into a swan, more noticeably a colossus that took on all comers and made them look second-rate in the process. They changed the rules of racing to curtail his success, yet still couldn’t beat him.

After a sequence of autumn victories, including an extraordinary win in the Futurity Stakes at Caulfield, Phar Lap would return to Flemington in 1931 in an attempt to win back-to-back Cups. However, with an allotted 10 stone 10 pounds, the task was somewhat beyond even the master. The previous highest weight to victory was his forebear, Carbine (1890), carrying 10 stone five pounds. Under the watchful eye of Jim Pike, he was protected, and when the task appeared insurmountable, he was eased to finish eighth.

At the request of owner David Davis, Phar Lap departed soon after for Mexico, where he took on the world’s best in the Agua Caliente Handicap. Again targeted by his opposition, he won with ease. He was now a global force, and Davis was well aware of the spoils that would come with it.

However, sixteen days later, in circumstances shrouded in mystery, he would be dead. A conspiracy, perhaps. Phar Lap suffered a bout of colic as a result of arsenic poisoning. News reached Australian shores soon after 5th April, 1932, from the US: “Phar Lap is dead,” read the headlines. The silence across the nation was deafening. Australians would once again be forced to their knees. Once a sign of hope, it was now a source of the cruellest heartbreak.

The legacy of Phar Lap is now shared across the broader community, with his hide at the Melbourne Museum, his skeleton at the Te Papa Museum in Wellington, and his heart at the National Museum in Canberra. The Melbourne Museum exhibit is the number one attraction at Victoria’s premier historical institution and will commemorate his 100th anniversary with an exhibition throughout 2026.

He is a legend and deserves all the accolades. His story is as fascinating to this writer now as it was when he was a teenager. How can one horse be so good? Simple. His name is Phar Lap.