KEY POINTS:
North Shore sculptor Joanne Sullivan-Gessler has minutely studied the form of the mighty Phar Lap, a horse that has achieved iconic status in New Zealand racing history.
Commissioned to produce a life-size statue of the big horse to stand outside the Timaru Racecourse, Sullivan-Gessler, an associate member of the American Academy of Equine Art, pored over photographs and video of the huge 17.1-hand horse born near Timaru in 1926.
For an artist specialised in equine paintings and sculptures, the challenge of producing a bronze replica of the racehorse was a labour of love and a professional challenge.
She chose a pose that showed his enormous power and his huge stride and after several months she is happy her wax model of Phar Lap in his full 8.22m stride with jockey Jim Pike on his back will give others an idea of how impressive the big-hearted chestnut gelding was during a race.
The wax model will be sent to America where digital images will be taken from several angles and a full-size foam model will be produced.
That will be the basis of the bronze statue to be cast in New Zealand and mounted outside the Timaru Racecourse, probably towards the end of next year.
The statue will be mounted on a marble plinth which the Phar Lap Trust said would give the impression of size, sound and movement.
Sullivan-Gessler said the work had been a huge challenge.
"With a piece this important you get more and more involved in doing your homework and doing it right. "This is not a statue piece. This is a sculpture which has a tremendous amount of energy and sensitivity."
In his short six-year life Phar Lap won 37 of his 51 starts, including the Melbourne Cup.
Derek Mayne, from the Timaru-based Phar Lap Trust and the president of the Timaru Racing Club, said Phar Lap had drawn in far more than just racing fans, particularly during the depression years of the early 1930s as people struggled to come through an era of financial hardship which had never been seen before.
As the economy broke down, Phar Lap broke records.
"There were a lot of people who went to the races to watch Phar Lap who had never been to the races before. It was because he gave them hope and helped bring them through the depression."
He said Sullivan-Gessler's wax model was "remarkably close" to Phar Lap. "It is quite amazing."
Mayne said the model "really shows the length and how impressive his stride was".
Phar Lap died mysteriously in 1932, a fortnight after winning the world's richest race - the Agua Calienta Handicap in Mexico.
Suggestions he had been poisoned were never proved.
The Phar Lap statue is likely to cost close to $500,000 by the time the marble plinth is built and the fountain and landscaping are completed.
As well as the full life-sized statue, a limited number of smaller collectors' items would be produced.
Parts of the marble plinth would be available for sponsorship and for $200 people would get an inscription under the statue at the racecourse.
The much revered horse's skeleton is already displayed at Te Papa in Wellington while his hide is shown at the Museum of Victoria in Melbourne and his heart at Australian National Museum in Canberra.
- NZPA
