Phar Lap death mystery 'solved'

Strapper Tommy Woodcock and Phar Lap in California

Australian scientists say they have proved that legendary Timaru-bred racehorse Phar Lap was poisoned - but the big gelding's death remains one of racing's great whodunnits.

Tests on hair samples using a huge American particle accelerator have established Phar Lap was given a fatal dose of arsenic about 35 hours before his death in California in 1932.

But although arsenic has been identified, there is still no evidence of how it was administered or by whom, let alone whether the Mafia was involved, as conspiracy theories have long postulated.

"All the material we have can only indicate he has ingested arsenic," Dr Ivan Kempson, of the Australian Synchrotron Research Programme, told ABC radio. "We can't actually identify where it has come from."

Even so, their conclusion that the great chestnut racehorse took the poison in one big dose adds to speculation that his death was deliberate.

The earliest autopsies speculated that Phar Lap - considered by many to be the greatest racehorse New Zealand and Australia have produced - died of acute gastric enteritis caused by a toxic substance.

Arsenic has long been suspected, either through the spraying of trees near his stable or administered by gangsters afraid of huge losses.

Another theory was that feed sent from Australia by Phar Lap's owners, who feared an attempt on his life, had itself become toxic.

And six years ago experts decided the horse that kept spirits alive in two countries during the Great Depression had died of an acute gastroenteritis called Duedentis-Proximal jejunitis.

But Dr Kempson and Dermott Henry, of Museum Victoria, have confirmed arsenic was the cause of death.

The pair used a synchrotron, a particle accelerator that speeds atoms in a circle at almost the speed of light, allowing scientists to isolate specific wavelengths of light.

This enables scientists to determine the structure of items to the most minute level.

They took a sample of hair from the skin held at Museum Victoria - Phar Lap's massive 6.2kg heart is at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, and his skeleton at Te Papa - and put it to the synchrotron.

By first identifying the arsenic and then measuring the length it had travelled along the hair, they concluded the poison had been administered in a single large dose one to two days before the horse's death.

"We discovered two forms of arsenic there, one of which was consistent with him consuming a dose just prior to his death," Dr Kempson told the ABC.

The finding will add to the legend of the Melbourne Cup-winning Phar Lap, still idolised more than 70 years after his death.

The 17-hand gelding, known to fans as "Red Terror", "Big Red" and "Anzac Antelope", won 37 of 51 starts between 1929 and 1932. His performance was so stunning some bookies refused to take bets on him.

Before the 1930 Melbourne Cup, after a series of threats, a shotgun was reportedly fired at him by gangsters fearing big losses. But many believe that to be a fabrication by Melbourne's tabloid press.

Owner David Davis, an American businessman living in Sydney, took him to Mexico to race in the 1932 Agua Caliente Handicap in Tijuana, which he won against all the odds. Jazz singer Al Jolson even wrote a song about it.

But early on April 5 strapper Tommy Woodcock found him writhing in pain. Several hours later he died, leaving nations in mourning.

One mystery has been solved - but the question of "who?" remains.