Monday 11 June 2012

PHAR LAP MURAL, CAULFIELD

Phar Lap (1926–1932) was a champion thoroughbred racehorse whose achievements captured the public's imagination during the early years of the Great Depression. Foaled in New Zealand, he was trained and raced in Australia. Phar Lap dominated Australian racing during a distinguished career, winning a Melbourne Cup, two Cox Plates and 19 other weight for age races.

He then won the Agua Caliente Handicap in Tijuana, Mexico in track-record time in his final race. After a sudden and mysterious illness, Phar Lap died in 1932. At the time, he was the third highest stakes-winner in the world. His mounted hide is displayed at the Melbourne Museum, his skeleton at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and his heart at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.

This mural celebrating the famous racehorse is on a wall opposite (quite aptly!) the Caulfield Racecourse.

This post is part of the Monday Murals meme.







13 comments:

  1. Very nice mural, too sad i have never visited horse racing !

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  2. I do enjoy horse racing and am a horse lover, so I particularly enjoyed your very interesting post for the day, Nick! What an amazing horse he was! A beautiful race trace, I might add! Hope your week is off to a great start! Enjoy!

    Sylvia

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  3. Lovely mural, but seriously his hide and bones on display? A tad morbid in todays day and age no?

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  4. What a fantastic set of murals dedicated to this winner! I also wondered a little at the hide and bones on display...not my cup of tea...but, each one to his own! Love these murals!

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  5. It looks like a wet day at the race track. It has been years since I've been to a horse race and we live close to the heart of it all in Kentucky. :) Maybe next year.

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  6. What an interesting post! He is a hero.

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  7. Wonderful tribute. Never been to alike a place. Please have a good Tuesday.

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  8. The mural is a great remembrance of such a great horse. I can see that the skeleton might be of interest but the hide not so much for me.

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  9. That really is an awesome mural.

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  10. Horse racing is exhilarating. It's nice to see that murals are being used to highlight track history and heroic horses. If you're ever a.t Churchill Downs, you'd like the museum of horse racing and the history of special horses. Really famous horses are buried there. Phar Lap sounds like he's now a legend. Thanks for contributing to this week's Monday Mural

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  11. I had no idea this mural was at Caulfield Race Course. Thanks for letting me know.

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  12. I remember seeing the bits of him in the Melbourne Museum (though until then, I did not know his story, I was just told I had to see him!)

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  13. Great memorial for a true star of the track.

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