June 18, 2008
AND ONE OF THE MOST UNDER-RATED FILMS OF THE PAST THIRTY YEARS:
Tests find arsenic poisoning killed Phar Lap (The Australian, June 19, 2008)
After dominating Australian tracks, the legendary racehorse died in mysterious circumstances in California in 1932.While conspiracy theories flourished following Big Red's death, including suggestions gangsters had killed him off, poisoning had always been suspected.
A handwritten notebook of homeopathic recipes used by his trainer Harry Telford, auctioned in Melbourne in April, revealed arsenic and strychnine among the ingredients in the tonics and ointments he used on his horses.
While one can legitimately argue that Man-o-War should edge Secretariat on the list of 10 Greatest Americans, there's no debate that Phar Lap deserves pride of place on the Aussie list.