The great Phar Lap was foaled on October 4th, 1926. He was a champion in New Zealand who also travelled the world, winning the Melbourne Cup in 1930.
Phar Lap is thought of as New Zealand’s best ever racehorse. This horse’s amazing success, along with Cup winners such as Peter Pan, helped people to get through the great depression.
We’re checking out a little bit more about Phar Lap, his background, and his 1930 Melbourne Cup success.
About Phar Lap
Regarding the unusual name, Phar Lap essentially means “sky flash”. The name is derived from Zhuang and Thai language.
Over the course of his career, Phar Lap was also given many complimentary nicknames. “The Red Terror”, “The Wonder Horse” and “Big Red” were just some of his casual monikers. The latter name was also later given to American superstars Secretariat and Man o’ War.
To the Aussie public, “Australia’s Wonder Horse” was how he was known, though to his strapper, he was simply known as “Bobby”.
Racing Career
Amazingly, Phar Lap was last on his racecourse debut. He didn’t win his first race until April 27th, 1929 in a maiden juvenile handicap at Rosehill. The rest, as they say, is history.
As well as many other races, Phar Lap won two Cox Plates, the 1930 Melbourne Cup, the Australian Derby and as many as 19 other top weight-for-age contests.
He even went to Mexico at one point, winning the Agua Caliente Handicap there in a course record time. That was to be his final race.
Despite his terrific potential and brilliant performances, Phar Lap was gelded. Although he would have undoubtedly been a hit at stud, his connections wanted him to concentrate on racing.
In 1932, only two years after his outstanding Melbourne Cup success, Phar Lap died of a mysterious illness. He passed away in Atherton, California, though some of his body parts are on display in New Zealand and Australia.
Phar Lap’s Melbourne Cup Win
Phar Lap was already known as a phenomenon before he lined up for the 1930 Melbourne Cup. Incredibly, he went off at odds of 8/11.
The race took place on Tuesday, November 4th, 1930. In a stunning performance, Phar Lap took the race under James Pike from Second Wind and Shadow King in a time of 3 minutes, 27.75 seconds. His performance has most certainly stood the test of time.
