What was Phar Lap and why is it famous?

Phar Lap was a New Zealand-born thoroughbred racehorse who became one of Australia's greatest sporting heroes during the darkest years of the Great Depression. He won 37 races from 51 starts between 1929 and 1932, including the 1930 Melbourne Cup, the 1930 Cox Plate, the 1930 and 1931 AJC Derby, and the Agua Caliente Handicap in Mexico in March 1932.

The horse was foaled in Timaru, New Zealand, in October 1926 and was bought as a yearling by Sydney trainer Harry Telford for 160 guineas in 1928. Telford was working with the American businessman David Davis, but the early racing performances were so poor that Davis tried to sell his share. The horse turned around dramatically in 1929, winning the Rosehill Guineas, the AJC Derby, and the Victoria Derby. From then on Phar Lap dominated Australian racing, often carrying weights of 9 stone 12 pounds (62 kilograms) or more.

Phar Lap died on 5 April 1932 at the Edward Perry Ranch in Menlo Park, California, after collapsing in apparent agony. He had just won the Agua Caliente Handicap in record time and was being prepared for further American races. The cause of death has never been definitively established. Theories have included accidental arsenic poisoning (arsenic-based tonics were common in racing at the time) and deliberate poisoning by gangsters worried about the horse's effect on the betting market. Modern hair analysis at Sydney's Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in 2008 found arsenic levels consistent with poisoning but could not establish intent.

Phar Lap's hide is mounted at Museum Victoria in Melbourne, his skeleton is displayed at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington, and his heart (an unusually large 6.35-kilogram organ, about twice the size of a normal thoroughbred's) is at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, a three-country split unique in sporting history. The 1983 film Phar Lap starring Tom Burlinson popularised the horse's story for younger audiences. The phrase 'a heart as big as Phar Lap' is Australian shorthand for someone of great courage or endurance. The horse remains a symbol of resilience in hard times, having peaked during the depths of the Great Depression when many Australians needed a national hero to follow.