Phar Lap
An overseas visitor in 1945 was introduced to Melbourne with a guided tour. “Imagine my disappointment and disgust,” she wrote home, “when this tour started with a five minute stop at the National Museum to see a horse.”
The visitor could have hardly known the regard in which Australians held this horse, as a heroic figure at a time of national hardship. Phar Lap is Australia’s greatest racehorse, the yardstick by which all subsequent champions are measured. Phar Lap holds a cherished place—living and dead—as a Melbourne icon and the tradition, passed through generations, of visiting him at the museum.
Mystified? Intrigued? Join us to explore the legend of Phar Lap.