It is one of the most important sporting events on the horse racing calendar, not only in Australia but the world.
JOHN RICHARDS reports from down under on ...
THE RACE THAT STOPS A NATION
sporting icons. Indeed, there is a case for saying that he is the most famous sporting legend of all in a country that is awash with sports stars. For, as far as we know, he is the only one who has been stuffed and has become the main attraction at the city’s museum - and has been for the last seventy years
Standing at the entrance to Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia is a majestic bronze statue of one of the country’s greatest
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lthough foaled in New Zealand, Phar Lap is described as Australia’s wonder horse. He triumphed during the Great Depression of the early 1930s, he conquered the local racing scene - 36 wins from his last 41 starts - and then won North America’s richest race, the Agua Caliente Handicap, in 1932. He strolled in to win the 1930 Melbourne Cup, starting at 11/8 on, the shortest priced winner in the 145 year history of the race. He died a fortnight after winning the Agua Caliente, struck down by a mystery illness that many suspected was the result of gangland rivalry. The horse had previously escaped a death attempt
prior to the 1930 Melbourne Cup when he was shot by local gangsters.
Of such heroics and intrigue legends are made.
So, it was, suitably impressed, that I made my first ever journey past the statue and into the impressive Flemington Racecourse, considered by many to be the premier racetrack in the Southern Hemisphere. Accompanying me on my visit was Bruce Stephens, of Anco Turf. He had arranged our meeting with Track and Operations Manager, Mick Goodie, which was taking place just two days after the course’s most prestigious event. The Spring Carnival is one of the world’s premier horse racing
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