Phar Lap caught in bronze at full gallop

Joanne Sullivan-Gessler and her sculpture. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Auckland man Eddie Telford stood in the shadow of one of the world's greatest racehorses and marvelled.

"This is amazing, outstanding," he said, as a slightly larger-than-life bronze statue of the 17.1-hand gelding Phar Lap towered over him in an Auckland foundry.

Mr Telford's uncle Harry Telford trained Phar Lap, who was born at Seadown, near Timaru, on October 4, 1926, and strode into racing history in the late 1920s.

In his six years, Phar Lap became a household name. He started in 51 races, won 37, including the Melbourne Cup, and placed in five.

His feats helped lift the gloom of the Depression.

Mr Telford, 87, never saw the horse. He was 10 when Phar Lap spent a fortnight at his Uncle Huey's stables in Trentham on the way to America in 1932, but his father took his brother Ray instead of him to see the horse.

The big red chestnut died in America soon after leaving New Zealand, probably from accidental poisoning.

His huge stride and magnificent racing style have been brought back to life by sculptor Joanne Sullivan-Gessler in a bronze statue to be unveiled outside the Timaru Racecourse on November 25.

Mr Telford will be one of the guests of honour.

The statue will leave the Art Works foundry in the Auckland suburb of Avondale today for the short sea voyage to Timaru and a new home.

The bronze statue is the only one of Phar Lap at full gallop. The only other statue of him is at the Flemington racecourse, the home of the Melbourne Cup, which he won in 1930.

That has him standing and does not show his enormous power and huge stride, said Sullivan-Gessler.

With jockey Jim Pike on his back, the new statue shows him at his best - his 8.22m stride was one of the biggest of any racehorse of his time.

Last weekend, the statue was sandblasted before the final patina was applied to give him his famous reddish hue, which earned him the nickname Big Red. The statue will be mounted on a solid stainless steel rod on the front left leg, giving the impression he is at full stride, Sullivan-Gessler said.

It consists of 850kg of bronze and 200kg of stainless steel framework.

Alexandrea Lau, managing director of the Art Works foundry, said mounting the horse on its front left leg so it was resistant to earthquakes and the wind was a complex engineering challenge.

A solid stainless steel rod was mounted inside the front left leg and connected to a stainless steel framework inside the horse.

Getting the balance right to take the weight of the horse was critical, particularly where the front left hoof met the ground, Ms Lau said.

When Phar Lap died, his skeleton was returned to New Zealand and stands in Te Papa museum in Wellington.

His hide is at the Museum of Victoria in Melbourne and his huge heart at the Australian National Museum in Canberra.

THOROUGHBRED
* Born: October 4, 1926.
* Died: April 5, 1932.
* Sire: Night Raid.
* Dam: Entreaty.
* Size: 17.1 hands.
* Weight: 520.72kg.
* Heart weight: 6.3kg (average horse's heart: About 4.2kg).
* Sold: Trentham sales, January 24, 1928, for 160 guineas ($336).
* Went to Australia: 1928.
* Starts: 51.
* Wins: 37.
* Placings: 5.
* Unplaced starts: 9.
* Australian earnings: £56,425.
* American earnings: $50,050.
* Skeleton: Te Papa (Wellington).
* Hide: Museum of Victoria (Melbourne).
* Heart: Australian National Museum (Canberra).

- NZPA