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As Melbourne Cup fever sweeps through most of Australia this week, you may well wonder what it's all about. Held in Melbourne annually on the first Tuesday of November, the Cup is the most famous race on the country's calendar. You may also be interested in knowing a little something about the most famous horse ever to win this race. "The Red Terror" was a significant phrase for the USA long before the rise of Communism; it was the nickname bestowed on the Australian racehorse Phar Lap, who had established a formidable record on the racing circuit by the early 1930's. In his four years on the track, this wonder horse ran 51 races, and won 37 of them. But it gets better; after a slow start, between 1930 and 1932 he won 32 of 35 races he entered. The conspiracy theories surrounding the death of this legend heat up every year around Melbourne Cup time. Yet the question remains: what is it about this horse's achievements that gave him such a hold on the public's imagination that continues even today? Perhaps it is the Australian desire to root for the underdog; Phar Lap didn't have a promising start as a young horse, only getting into his stride later on. Perhaps it is the ongoing mystery surrounding his death on April 5 1932, when he had been shipped over to Mexico to compete in what was the most lucrative race in North America at the time, the Agua Caliente Handicap. In the early hours of that morning, he became extremely ill with a high temperature, severe pain and hemorrhaging. Since then explanations for his death have ranged from malicious poisoning to various gastric conditions, and recently a group of Australian scientists suggested that he was killed by a large dose of arsenic because they tested Phar Lap's hair and discovered significant traces of arsenic in it. However, vetenerian Percy Sykes points out that arsenic was a common tonic given to horses at the time, to improve the condition of the coat. By now you might be wondering how it's possible to have tested Phar Lap's hair. The answer is that he was stuffed after his death and is still on display for anyone who is interested at the Melbourne Museum. So.. accidental overdose? Gangster contract killing? The mystery remains, but the obsession with our favourite national icon seems never to fade. |
