“It
was cabled from San Francisco last Friday that the Hooper Medical Foundation of
the University of California that Phar Lap had died of colic or acute indigestion.” “Worker” 20th April 1932
Travelling with “Team Phar Lap”, the esteemed
racing journalist Bert Wolfe, writing under his nom de plume “Cardigan”, insisted
on two things to the day he died. He loudly claimed to have never seen a better
racehorse than Phar Lap, while giving
Seabiscuit the nod for second
greatest. And he remained steadfast in
his unwavering belief that nefarious deeds killed the champion gelding.
“I
have no doubt, distasteful as it is to say it, that Phar Lap was deliberately poisoned. The suggestion that the champion died of
colic is all moonshine.”
[1]
From
the glories bestowed upon Phar Lap
the previous fortnight, everything was about to turn into the very worst of
nightmares. Suddenly Australians and New Zealanders were reading of Phar Lap’s demise. Torpedoing a national
psyche, the news plunged a shocked Australasian populace into deep mourning. Phar Lap’s death was horrible as it was unexpected
and unexplainable. Yet even before Phar
Lap embarked on his journey to the United States, there were local
murmurings of concern about what could possibly occur in America. The reason
for the unease came not from racing but boxing. The death of middleweight boxer
Les Darcy in 1917.
If
there was ever an omen hanging over this story it is probably Tim O’Sullivan.
As far as dubious characters go, O’Sullivan is up there among the truly shady
or just plain unlucky. Meeting Australia’s middleweight boxing champion Les
Darcy on a train back from Brisbane would prove fateful for both men. From this moment on, O’Sullivan somehow
managed to inveigle his way into the boxer’s life. During World War One,
Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes tried unsuccessfully introducing
conscription to meet the recruitment quotas set by Great Britain. Instead of
waiting for the referendum result, which ultimately failed twice to be passed
into law, Tim O’Sullivan convinced Les Darcy to accompany him over to America.
The two snuck out of Newcastle harbour under the cover of darkness, boarded a
tramp steamer to San Francisco and sailed off into the night. The men left
behind a bewildered and very disappointed Australian public. Unsurprisingly,
Darcy found himself branded as a draft dodger and worse, a coward. These slurs
followed him to America, where by 1916, they too were preparing to join the
Great War.
Once
in America, things never really improved. Tim O’Sullivan was now claiming to be
Les Darcy’s manager and started organising bouts without Darcy’s consent. Even
more alarming for Darcy, O’Sullivan started expecting a large percentage of the
boxer’s winnings. This quickly soured their relationship. Darcy and Tim
O’Sullivan had a falling out when the boxer signed to another management[2]. From
there, the situation spiralled from bad to worse to fatal. Les Darcy died in
Memphis from septicaemia in July 1917.[3] Rather
than accepting the official reason of the blood poisoning due to infected
teeth, immediately Australians believed their great boxing hope had been killed
off by the Yanks due to his outstanding abilities in the ring. No amount of
“fact” exonerating the US of this tragic death was ever going to be sufficient
in dispelling these rumours of Les Darcy meeting with foul play. Rumours of
Darcy being murdered still persisted 25 years later when Phar Lap departed these shores.
How
Tim O’Sullivan becomes involved with the Phar
Lap story is through his claims of having been the one to have first advised
David Davis to take Phar Lap to
America. He also claimed to have purchased a share in Phar Lap from Telford and Davis’ partnership of the horse. He went
on to explain how Davis later reneged on this supposed deal but O’Sullivan
boasted he had early money on Phar Lap
to win the Agua Caliente Handicap and collected $7,000.[4] If
the story is true, Tim O’Sullivan, by association, has the odious honour of
being connected in the killing of two of Australia’s greatest sporting legends.
Good work Tim.
By
conjuring the ghost of Les Darcy, even before Phar Lap left for America, the initial shock followed by disappointment
from the Australian public of no longer seeing their “Red Terror” in action, was
soon being replaced by a real sense of dread. John Wren recalled walking
through Melbourne to a meeting when the news broke of Phar Lap leaving for America. He overheard a woman say to a friend,
“I hope they (the Americans) don’t do to Phar Lap what they did to poor Les
Darcy?”[5] The woman was not alone in her concerns.
After
taking American racing by storm by his winning the Agua Caliente Handicap in
such magnificent and emphatic style, sixteen days later Phar Lap was dead. His
suspicious death produced a veritable avalanche of theories rivalling those of
JFK, Jimmy Hoffa, 9/11, Princess Diana, the disappearance of Harold Holt and,
of course, the tragic death of Les Darcy. But what do we really know? We know there
was scarcely a racehorse running around in the 1930’s without traces of arsenic
in its system. Harry Telford was not a pioneer of elixirs in this area.
Throughout the racing world, these potent tonics, which would see a trainer
banned for life today, were being administered to horses in England, America,
France, Italy and certainly throughout Australia and New Zealand. For example, Lou Robertson was a very capable
vet and expert chemist. Constantly
mixing up secret concoctions that invariably contained arsenic, caffeine,
cocaine, strychnine and belladonna, to have his horses gleaming like silk in
sunlight and leaping out of their skins. It was often said, Robertson and Jack Holt
were two of Ballantine’s (the local Mordialloc chemist) best customers just as
the Mentone chemist is reputed to have done an equally booming trade out of Fred
Hoysted[6].
Telford
and Lou Robertson both worked in Palmerston North, both surrounded by the same
“horse crowd” and both mates, it would be hardly surprising both be singing
from the same hymn book when it came to these potent recipes. Phar Lap received “arsenic lollies” from
both Telford[7] and Tommy Woodcock when he
was in charge of the horse. While the likes of Robertson and Harry Telford were
expert at this, the same may not have been true with young Woodcock. There is a
possibility Woodcock’s beloved “Bobby” may have been dosed with one too many
toxic concoctions. The second fact about racehorses past and present is much
can go wrong with a horse’s stomach and intestines. This is especially true in
this instance after the stress of a long ocean voyage closely followed by a
thousand mile round trip on rough roads to Tijuana.
One
of the modern diagnoses of Phar Lap’s
death is Duodenitis-Proximal Jejunitis (DPJ), a bacterium that can suddenly,
and mysteriously, develops in the horse’s small intestine. The DPJ bacterium
was not discovered until the 1980’s. It does produce many of the symptoms
described by Woodcock and the attending vet except for the absence of laminitis
in Phar Lap that is sometimes associated
with the illness. There is also a possibility that besides being poisoned or
DPJ, Phar Lap did in fact die of
severe colic.
Bloodstock agent Andrew Robertson happened
to be in New Zealand when the shocking news came through of Phar Lap’s death. Despite Australians
claiming Phar Lap and elevating him
to legend status, New Zealanders always have and always will claim this horse a
New Zealander. Considering he was born and bred there, probably a reasonable
claim. The local press, Wellington’s “The Evening Post”, asked Robertson for
his theory on Phar Lap’s death
knowing he spent many years importing both standardbreds and thoroughbreds from
California. Understanding he had only heard the shocking news like everyone
else and was an ocean apart from the Perry’s farm, Robertson took a stab at
what may have occurred.[8]
“It
was springtime in California, and the alfalfa and grass would be luscious,
fresh and green. As one who has taken horses from one country to another you
have to be very careful after horses have been on dry feed for so long,
especially with alfalfa, or what we call lucerne. I think they probably gave
him a little too much. They were possibly a little too kind. I think it was
just plain colic that killed him. I am only guessing, as one must, but I have
only my experience with horses to back me up.”[9]
I
am not sure how much credence one takes in Tokoroa trainer John Mason’s
suddenly spouting in 2009 that Tommy Woodcock had confessed to him in 1981 on
how Phar Lap died. His retelling is almost
verbatim of what Andrew Robertson stated nearly 80 years earlier. According to Mason, Woodcock believed the real
reason,
“They
were coming from Mexico and Phar Lap hadn't had any grass for a couple of
weeks. Driving down the road they spotted this paddock of lucerne. He got a
crook guts that night and died. They panicked so they came up with the story
that the horse was poisoned to cover their butts."[10]
However
it is impossible to really be certain if these stories are true.[11]
It is obviously tragic how events unfolded and was hinted at in an article by
Tim Egan although not fully articulated.[12]
Articles by Age journalist Patrick Bartley also mentioned it. After Phar Lap’s stunning victory in the 1932
Agua Caliente Handicap in Tijuana, Mexico, despite the remarkable farrier work
of Jimmie Smith, he was left with a badly injured hoof. It may have meant Phar Lap could have been out of action
for up to six months so his hoof could repair properly. This was well known and
therefore any theory relating to Phar Lap
being done away by the American underworld becomes a nonsense with the champion
horse unable to compete. Phar Lap
could hardly walk much less be any threat to American racing syndicates.
It
needs to be remembered Phar Lap was a
prized possession so the notion of him being let loose in a paddock where
someone could just come along and poison or steal him is also a nonsense. Tommy
Woodcock was either riding Phar Lap
or walking him like a dog on a short lead. Also good luck stealing a 17 hands
thoroughbred from the person the horse loved most in the world and would fret
if ever Woodcock was out of his sight. That would be a You Tube clip worth
seeing.
Five
people accompanied Phar Lap to
America – Trainer Tommy Woodcock, owner David Davis, jockeys Billy Elliot and
Jack Martin and horse doctor, as opposed to qualified vet, Bill Neilsen. For
Davis it had been a successful foray into American racing having won $50,000 in
prize money, a further $5,000 in a pre-match exhibition and hauling $200,000 (£40,000)
out of the ring from his successful punting. None of this money was really
shared with Woodcock or Elliot who were hardly paid for their time in America.
It is always reported Phar Lap was
housed and died at Menlo Park, some 40 kilometres south of San Francisco and
800 kilometres north of Mexico by road. Phar
Lap was being housed at Susanne and Ed Perry’s Farm at Atherton, San Mateo
county 15 kilometres north of Menlo Park. Despite prohibition, this was one of
the “wettest” counties in America- full of speakeasies and awash with alcohol.
Considering Susanne Perry’s ex father-in-law, Isaac Kohn made his money from
bootlegging and other dubious and mysterious pursuits, just having Phar Lap there was more than enough
publicity. The last thing Susanne and Ed Perry wanted was for her place to be
crawling with police and reporters from a famous horse dying under suspicious
circumstances. Especially as it was rumoured the lake adjoining their property
was a boot leg route used by Al Capone’s west coast operations.
Phar Lap, according to Tommy Woodcock,
developed a cold through the day so he gave “Bobby” the same as what most other
trainers of the time would have given Phar
Lap, a tonic with a very small dose of arsenic in it. Only mild but many horses around this time
did have a slow build-up of arsenic in their systems, producing stomach
problems later. But in this case, it appears not the reason for ultimately
causing the horse’s death. Woodcock slept only a few metres from Phar Lap and was a constant
companion. Davis, Elliot and Nielsen all
enjoyed themselves to the max during their American odyssey especially on top
of their Phar Lap celebrity and spending
some of Davis’ winnings. Coming home in the wee hours almost legless from a
speakeasy of illegal booze, women and music, Woodcock alerted Bill Neilsen to Phar Lap having a cold. No one outside
of those who were there knows for sure what really happened next.
This
may be a cautionary tale of mixing up an arsenic based elixir for a racing
legend while being near paralytically drunk. It is rumoured, Bill Neilsen may
have managed to make his medicine as imbalanced as himself. Because of so many
contradictory retellings of this tale, it is impossible to determine what story
is even close to factual. Whether blame is directly attributable to Neilsen, or
Woodcock or both, in this supposed incident, the result was the same. Do we
believe Tommy Woodcock pointing the finger at some mysterious gangster referred
to as “The Brazilian”? Despite this conjuring up visions of a man with freshly
waxed testicles, Woodcock supposedly scared him off with a pitch fork. That he
stared down gangsters wanting to shoot Phar
Lap from a passing car before the Melbourne Cup, nobody would doubt
Woodcock’s courage and love to protect his horse, and therefore the story.
In
later versions by Woodcock, he tells director Simon Wincer of just how
horrified he had been with Bill Neilson running off[13] to
find a more qualified vet, Dr. Caesar Masiero.[14] Unfortunately Neilson ended up leaving Woodcock
with his dying horse. Woodcock could do nothing but watch Phar Lap, literally explode in a shower of blood and die in his
arms.[15] The
whys and wherefores of this death to one side, the brilliance of Phar Lap and the glory he garnered for
those associated with him are all secondary. The deep love Woodcock and Phar Lap had for the other paints one of
the most heartbreaking scenes of loss imaginable of an animal.
Journalist
Bert Wolfe[16], was adamant at the time,
and year’s later stating time and again, Phar
Lap had been deliberately poisoned by persons unknown. And without overtly
stating it, Wolfe’s view of the Californian detectives tasked with the case
were sloppy, incompetent or even corrupt. Sent over by Sydney’s Daily
Telegraph, it was due in the main to Wolfe’s colourful reporting of Phar Lap, Woodcock, Agua Caliente and
how America embraced their national hero that elevated and endeared Phar Lap far beyond the race track. But
it was also Wolfe who brought most Australian a firsthand account of the
tragedy. In turn, Wolfe’s unequivocal
statements suggesting the champion was deliberately poisoned cemented in the
minds of most Australian’s that our champion was murdered. In May 1932 Wolfe
stated,
“I
have no doubt, distasteful as it is to say, Phar Lap was deliberately poisoned.
Suggestion that the champion died from colic is all moonshine, and the theory
that the horse had eaten Alfalfa grass, sprayed with arsenate of lead, will not
hold water.”[17]
A
few years later Beret Wolfe expanded on what he had witnessed.
“There
were queer looking balls of mud in Phar Lap’s stall which were discovered after
his death, but what they contained will never be known as the police took
control of the bedding and everything in the stable. One captain of the
detectives was so incensed when I suggested that any foreign substance in the
stall should be sent to San Francisco for analysis that he had me escorted off
the estate, and then posted guards to prevent all newsmen from approaching
within a mile of the estate.”[18]
Close
to the eighteenth anniversary of Phar Lap’s
death, Bert Wolfe delivered an address to “The Melbourne Legacy Club” titled, “Reminiscences of the Turf”.[19] It is obvious Bert Wolfe changed little of his
original belief in those years.
“The
anti-racing faction thought Phar Lap would bring popularity to racing and at
night threw him clay balls (which horses will eat) full of arsenate. I secured
a few of these but were taken from me by the police.”[20]
Whatever
the cause of death, be it colic, DPJ[21]
(would be my guess along with Geoff Armstrong and Dr. Graeme Putt) or poisoned
by gangsters, anti-racing zealots or by accident, Phar Lap’s stomach haemorrhaged resulting in this poor horse dying
in agony. What happened after Phar Lap died
by most accounts turned into a three ring circus of conflicting interests?
Wolfe’s assessment of the police and their level of in-depth investigations appears
on the money. Their investigation comes across as deep as a skiffle pool and those
in charge appear very quick to shut the whole thing down and write it off as a
fabulous horse tragically succumbing to a fatal attack of colic. Case closed.
Now
this hapless group had to explain what happened. Vital organs immediately went
missing as autopsies were hurriedly completed. It was later proved Phar Lap certainly had dangerous levels
of arsenic in his system, and maybe even the cause of death, however the whys
and wherefores are forever shrouded.[22]
Rumours of Phar Lap being poisoned by
US gangsters almost sprung up immediately.
All those involved started playing a well-orchestrated story to deflect any
possible blame away from themselves. Bill Neilsen, Tommy Woodcock and Billy
Elliott all remained a little longer in Mexico. Employed by Willis Kilmer who
had amassed a fortune from marketing “Swamp Root Tonic” which bordered on
quackery, was the famed owner of American champion Sun Beau.[23]
Woodcock and Elliot attempted to register with the New York Jockey Club in May
1932 only to run up against American officialdom. Both men were in America on
tourist visas and as such could not sign employment contracts.[24]
When Bill Neilsen returned to Australia with Woodcock and Martin in September
1932 he stated, “He knew why Phar Lap
died but will not speak.”[25] Billy Elliot is
enshrined on the Jockey Memorial at Caulfield having died of pneumonia in 1941.
So
forever, there will be conjecture as to what really happened. Was it arsenic
poisoning by misadventure accidently administered by Woodcock or Neilson?
Poisoned by the mob, namely some mysterious gangster referred to only as “The
Brazilian” as suggested by Woodcock? Was it colic as suggested by many
commentators of the day? Or was it the modern diagnose, displaying the majority
of symptoms and rapidity of onset usually associated with the bacterium,
Duodenitis-Proximal Jejunitis? And were some of the problems brought on by
stress related to Phar Lap
travelling? Whatever the reason, a national treasure was suddenly dead plunging
both Australia and New Zealand into deep mourning.
While
one would believe all the mourning for Phar
Lap was being done in Australia and New Zealand, American’s were also in
shock on news of his death. Messages of sympathy from all over the world
flooded in for both Davis and Telford. There was hardly a paper in the world
that did not carry the story of the great horse’s demise. One American radio
announcer went as far as to ask his listeners to stand for 30 seconds while he
played some suitably mournful music to mark Phar
Lap’s passing.[26]
Race tracks all over America paid homage to his death and all racing
commentators expressed a deep regret of not being able to see Phar Lap race against horses of the
calibre of Twenty Grand and Mate.
Many added that even against these horses Phar Lap very likely would have annihilated them. It was expected by most experts that one
season of racing in America could have seen Phar
Lap not only overtake Sun Beau’s world
stake earning record of US$ 376,744 (approx. AUS£75,00),
he could have added another $200,000 (£40,000) to the coffers.[27]
Then of course, just to add more salt to an already lamentable tragedy, David
Davis had recently refused a $300,000 (£60,000) offer[28]
from one of the Hollywood moguls. An incredible offer for any horse but
absolutely extraordinary for a gelding. With an 18% unemployment rate and
average American worker earning under $1,400 per annum, most workers would find
that news beyond staggering.
It
comes as no surprise David Davis was not popular in Australia for having taken
the decision to race the nation’s favourite horse in America only to see their
beloved Phar Lap die there. However
it was Davis who did the right thing by Telford and Australasians by ensuring
the horse’s remains were returned home. The skeleton went to Wellington[29]
while his, or at least some horse’s, massive heart is in the Science Museum at
Canberra.[30] But the real prize ended
up in Melbourne’s museum – the taxidermied hide.[31] Taxidermied
in America, adding to Woodcock’s already considerable grief, he assisted in
helping the taxidermist make sure they had Phar
Lap’s features exactly right.[32] Although
it is sometimes believed that the taxidermied remains were commission by Davis,
in fact it had been the Melbourne Museum who specifically contracted the work
to be done. The taxidermy of Phar Lap
is still to this day, considered to be one of the greatest examples of the art
on display anywhere in the world.
From
the moment it went on perpetual display in 1933, Phar Lap has been the Melbourne museum’s Mona Lisa.[33]
It left its safe confines once to be paraded at Flemington but that is never
likely to happen again as it is now too fragile. It attracts thousands to the museum every
year along with endless school excursions to keep the legend alive. Seen as
Australasian racing’s greatest horse, the debate remains as to whether or not
that is in fact true. Supporters of Carbine,
Peter Pan, Tulloch, Bernborough, Kingston Town, Makiva Diva all have a
claim or is Winx the greatest horse
we have ever produced. Possibly one of Phar
Lap’s least spoken about wins was his astonishing effort in the 1931
Futurity. Not known as a sprinter, Phar
Lap and Pike missed the start completely. Considering the race is only
1,400 metres, for most horses that start would spell “curtains”. Phar Lap hurtled after the field, ran
around the outside all the way to grab Mystic
Peak on the line.[34]
Pike stated later, “I wondered why his
heart didn’t burst.” Unknown at the
time, because there was 14 pounds of it. Later Pike elaborated some more on Phar Lap’s astonishing sprint at
Caulfield,
“Until
then I thought Gothic’s second Newmarket when he almost fell, and still won
under 9.10 was a miracle of the Turf. But conceding a huge start and winning
the Futurity under 10.3, eclipsed even that classic performance.” [35]
For
the volumes writing about Phar Lap
and the adulation bestowed upon this magnificent creature, there remains an
almost ineffable gulf between what’s been written and the true feeling most
felt seeing him race. There was a beauty in Phar
Lap that could only be witnessed and despite every effort by writers and
racing journalists, that intangible brilliance could never be fully conveyed in
just words.
The
other aspect of Phar Lap’s death that
could never be fully conveyed to American’s was the genuine cynicism many
Australians held for generations that their sports stars would be injured or
killed competing over there. The four minute mile barrier was broken by
Englishman Roger Bannister in May, 1954. By May 1956, Australian John Landy had
broken the record a further six times and was competing in America. He stated
to a United Press sports writer in New York that he was surprised, “nobody has slipped any sleeping pills in my
coffee.”[36] He then let it be known that someone had
written to him from Australia, warning him about America. “Remember Phar Lap and Les Darcy." It was
signed: “An admirer.”[37]
[1] Bert Wolfe 1932, writing as “Cardigan”
[2] Referee,
4 April 1917, page 8 – In an article penned by famed American US lawman and
professional gambler Bat Masterton, he explains what an ungrateful, disloyal
schmuck Les Darcy was reneging on an agreement between himself and Sullivan.
Masterton thought Darcy’s ethics awful and Sullivan very harshly treated by Les
Darcy. O’Sullivan
took out a trainer’s licence in England to become a seriously good horse
trainer, being praised by the likes of Lord Derby. Regrettably, Tim O’Sullivan
was rubbed out in 1929 for what amounted to inconsistent running and returned
to Australia. After the running of Cheerio in the Bibury Cup the stewards of
the Jockey Club rubbed him out. (Newcastle Sun, 19 July 1929, page 1) This ban was lifted after four
years. Obviously O’Sullivan was not quite as subtle as some in his racing
methods as other trainers. It probably does not help when an Irish paper ran a
spurious ad suggesting O’Sullivan would furnish you with red hot tips based
upon stable secrets. (Sydney Sportsman 10 June 1933, page 1) He successfully
sued the paper for £1,000 damages, which did little to restore a reputation
slipping from tarnished to completely trashed. (ibid)
[3] Referee 3 April, 1918, page 8
[4] Sydney
Sportsman 16 February 1935, page 1
[5] The Herald
[6] Norman McDonnell
[7] Telford’s recipes for general tonics.
This would have not been so very different from other trainers of the day and
their concoctions (end of index)
[8] Evening Post, 7 April 1932, Page 11
[9] Auckland Star, 14 April 1932, Page 14
[10] New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame
[11] Wayne Hinchcliffe’s father and
Woodcock were best mates and Woodcock lived and was looked after by the
Hichcliffe family for the last two years of his life.
[12]
http://countryracingnsw.com.au/who-killed-phar-lap/
[13] Tommy Woodcock talking to director of
“Phar Lap” Simon Wincer
[14] The
Herald 23 March 1936, page 30
[15] Tommy Woodcock talking to director of
“Phar Lap” Simon Wincer
[16] Writing under the nom de plume, “Cardigan”
[17] Muswellbrook Chronicle 27 May 1932, page 2
[18] The
Herald 23 March 1936, page 30
[19] Morwell Advertiser 13 April 1950, page 7
[20] Ibid
[21]
Duodenitis-Proximal Jejunitis being Phar Lap’s cause of death is also favoured as the reason by Geoff Armstrong and Dr.
Graeme Putt. In conversation with Graeme Putt who travelled over to California
after his wonderfully research book, “Phar Lap – the Untold Story” was
published discovered an interesting snippet of information. He claims to have
discovered on the day Phar Lap died that Tommy Woodcock had been taken to the
police station for speeding. Woodcock did not have too many vices in life but
he was by all accounts a lead foot. May be he was taught to drive by Lou
Robertson who was notoriously swift behind the wheel. It meant Phar Lap was
unattended and would fret terribly without Woodcock in sight. Now whether
during Woodcock’s absence due to being held by local police of this traffic
infringement, that has never been reported, Phar Lap was poisoned by an
outsider as stated by Woodcock and Bert Wolfe or due to the anxiety from not
seeing Woodcock’s bringing about a bout of DPJ, is a question.
[22] At the time of Phar Lap’s demise, he
vomited blood and suffered from abdominal pain, high temperature,
gastrointestinal inflammation, and ulcers, which are consistent with all
cause-of-death theories proposed. A point of contention has been that he did
not have diarrhoea, however, this symptom is not universally encountered in
humans, horses, and cattle. Even in modern veterinary practice, the diagnosis
of arsenic poisoning is not easy.[15] There are several documented accounts of
horses dying from arsenic poisoning;[ in one instance, if arsenic had not been
identified in the animal’s feed, then poisoning would have been
indistinguishable from colitis. Arsenic concentrations in the organs of horses
are typically only around 10 ppm in fatal cases, that is, if they can be
detected at all. Small quantities of arsenic were measured in Phar Lap’s vital
organs. This result supports the poisoning argument but was dismissed at the
time as the concentrations were too low. The suggestion of a fatal dose of
arsenic has been highly provocative and has led to conspiracy theories that
raise questions of foul play and involvement of gangsters and illegal racing
syndicates. Other theories include a bad “green feed”, that is, consumption of
monosodium methanearsonate, sodium and potassium arsenite, or thioarsenites
that were used as herbicides before 1947. However, other horses had access to
the same foliage but did not fall ill. An
unfortunate case of misadventure or a simple dosing error provides another
explanation. Arsenic-based tonics were common in the racing industry for
boosting the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood, improving stamina, and
stimulating appetite to improve an animal’s ability. The tonic book of Harry
Telford (Phar Lap’s trainer), held by Museum Victoria, lists an
arsenicals-based tonic that is “a great tonic for all horses” - Determination
of Arsenic Poisoning and Metabolism in Hair by Synchrotron Radiation: The Case
of Phar Lap**
Ivan M. Kempson* and Dermot A. Henry, Angew.
Chem. Int. Ed. 2010, 49, 4237 –4240 _ 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co.
KGaA, Weinheim 4237
[23] Daily Advertiser, 25 April 1932, page
6 – Willis Sharpe Kilmer owned Sun Beau which had been sired by an equally good
horse, the French import Sun Briar.
Kilmer at one stage also owned US Horse of the Year Exterminator –
Pedigree Query
Buckley, Amelia King, “Keeneland
Association Library – Guide to the Collection”
[24] Advocate, 9 May 1932, page 3
[25] The Sun, 23 September 1932, page
[26] Auckland Star 31 October 1939, page
40
[27] Press 2 May 1932, page 12
[28] Ibid
[29]
http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/topic/1371
[30]
http://www.nma.gov.au/collections/highlights/phar-lap
[31] Hutchinson, Garrie (Editor) “”They’re
Racing! – The Complete Book of Australian Racing” page 115
[32] Mirror, 26 June 1954, page 16
[33] http://museumvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/whatson/current-exhibitions/phar-lap/
[34] Hutchinson, Garrie (Editor) “”They’re
Racing! – The Complete Book of Australian Racing” page 116
[35] The Herald 28 March 1936, page 21
[36]
Desert Sun 22 May 1955,
page 5
[37] Ibid
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