Tuesday 10 November 2009 Phar Lap: the Untold Story by Graeme Putt and Pat McCord Review by Gerard Morris, Wellington author and thoroughbred racing enthusiast. There is a saying in racing that a racehorse is an animal that can take several thousand people for a ride at the same time. In Phar Lap’s case, he is still running his race after more than 70 years. He has taken millions along for the ride in that time with no sight of the winning post any time soon. This latest book on New Zealand’s greatest thoroughbred, drills down many strata’s into the great horse’s history and provides compelling evidence to reaffirm Phar Lap’s legendary status based on substance rather than myth. It also confirms that the champion’s New Zealand heritage played a very important part in his success. Why is it then that another angle on the story of Phar Lap that is widely known, needs repeating? Delve into Putt and McCord’s outstanding work and the depth of their years of research reveals absorbing new material on numerous fronts. The chapters on the champion’s breeder, Alec Roberts, born at Akaroa in 1860 and later married into the famous Moorhouse family of Christchurch, brings this otherwise shadowy figure out from the dark and into the light for readers for the first time. His business interests across the South Island brought their own pressures and contributed to a spell for Roberts in the Seacliff Mental Hospital where author Janet Frame was another famous patient. This was clearly a black mark on Roberts’ landed gentry’s heritage, which has previously tagged a more deserved recognition of his breeding nous. The bloodlines on the female side of the champion are linked to a Pacific Ocean high seas rescue in 1878 where the champ’s tap root mare, Miss Kate was aboard the Rangitikei en route from England with one other mare and 60 immigrants heading for Lyttelton, which rescued shipwrecked sailors en route. Besides Phar Lap, Miss Kate is the taproot mare in the bloodlines of the first three inductees into the NZ Racing Hall of Fame in 2006, the other two being Kindergarten and Sunline. The book establishes a fuller and more sympathetic image of the trainer, Harry Telford, describing the period of his extensive training and development in horsemanship spent in New Zealand for the first time, establishing him as the pre-eminent figure in producing Phar Lap, the racehorse supreme, rather than strapper Tommy Woodcock or American owner and Russian-born Jew, David Davis. Most importantly, the book answers the lingering question of why Telford never accompanied the horse on the fateful American trip, leaving it to his young strapper Woodcock instead. Telford’s daughter took ill in Australia just prior to when the horse was shipped from Sydney to Wellington and sadly died the day after the champ left Wellington for San Francisco. His family was his bigger need at that time. Telford returned to visit his brothers in Palmerston North after Phar Lap unbelievably won four races in a week at the Melbourne Cup Carnival in 1930 and he assisted them in buying a house from his winnings. The book contains an audited assessment of the present day value of Phar Lap’s earnings. They are assessed at AU$15.7 million, three-time Melbourne Cup winner and leading Australasian stakes winner, Maykbe Diva, earned AU$14.5 million and Sunline AU$11.3 million on a comparative basis. The authors quote from the history of the champ’s last racetrack, Agua Caliente in Mexico. Its placing judge Francis Dunne, when asked four decades later on who was the better, Man O’ War or Secretariat? Dunne replied: “Neither, I saw Phar Lap.” The legendary Australian trainer, Bart Cummings, Patron of Timaru’s Phar Lap Charitable Trust, recently told Trustees that he visited the now defunct Agua Caliente track two years ago “simply to pay my respects to the champion”. What this book may inspire is a rethink by the Victorian Racing Club when they bring their treasured Melbourne Cup on its annual pre-race tour to New Zealand. If the VRC wants to make further genuine connections to the heritage of the great 1930 Melbourne Cup winner, take their gold trophy in homage to Millers Flat, Seacliff, the United Bays Cricket Club and Le Bons Rugby Club in Akaroa, Moorhouse Avenue in Christchurch, the West Coast Christmas circuit, Invercargill, Lower Hutt, St Peter’s Anglican Cemetery Riccarton (where Roberts is buried), the Kaituna Valley – the champ’s heritage runs deepest in New Zealand. If there was one fault with the book, it is the flow of the story. The authors are a mix of highly regarded racing journalist and university physics lecturer. This long-odds doubles combination make parts of the book seem like it is written by a committee. Distribution by Southern Publishing (09) 360 0692 Note: the date for the opening of the Phar Lap Statue has been set for Wednesday 25 November at Washdyke, at the northern entrance to Timaru, as part of the Timaru Festival of the Roses. TAB November Bonus Weekend – 9 November Thoroughbred Bonuses: $310,000 $100,000 to the Quaddie at Riccarton on Saturday 14 November. $40,000 to the Quaddie at Tauranga on Saturday 14 November. $40,000 to the Quaddie at Te Awamutu on Sunday 15 November. $25,000 to the First4s on Races 4 and 8 at Riccarton. $25,000 to the First4s on Races 4 and 8 at Tauranga. $30,000 to the Trifecta on Race 9 at Riccarton. (NZ Bloodstock 1000 Guineas) Feature Race Nominations and Withdrawals Information Auckland RC First nominations for the Blandford Lodge Railway Sakes, City of Auckland Cup, Dunstan Feeds Championship, Telecom NZ Derby and Stella Artois Auckland Cup close at 4 pm on Monday 16 November 2009 with the National Racing Bureau. Wellington RC First nominations for the Century City Developments Wellington Cup and Telegraph Handicap close at 4 pm on Tuesday 17 November 2009 with the National Racing Bureau. Thoroughbred Bonus Scheme - Upcoming Bonus Races Wed 11 Nov Canterbury Racing Rating 70 1800m $15,000 Wed 11 Nov Canterbury Racing Maiden 1600m $7,500 Thu 12 Nov Otaki-Maori RC Rating 70 1600m $7,500 Fri 13 Nov Dargaville RC Maiden F&M 1400m $7,500 Sun 15 Nov Waipa RC Rating 70 1400m $7,500 Wed 18 Nov Taranaki RC Maiden 2000m $7,500 For eligible 4YO horses. Bonus race information beyond these dates can be found on www.nzthoroughbred.co.nz or www.nzracing.co.nz websites. Advertise in the NZTR Marketplace Whether you need to buy or sell, looking for or offering employment, selling a horse off the track or selling agistment or gear, you can do it all here. Send us a picture or logo to advertise your ad (if you have one), plus a small introduction (50 words or less) and we will do the rest! It’s that easy! See some examples here: http://www.nzracing.co.nz/marketplace/ Contact James Preston to book your space: [email protected] Turnovers for the period ending 8 November 2009 Date Club On-Course Off-Course Fixed Odds Starters 09-10 08-09 3/11 Auckland 834,771 4.2% 2,046,739 2.6% 307,049 11.9% 117 5.6% 3/11 Wellington (1) 134,891 7.9% 770,812 41.3% 149,321 10.8% 57 45.2% 3/11 Otago (2) 304,645 3.1% 1,302,362 0.7% 136,563 25.9% 121 0.0% 4/11 Paeroa (3) 67,232 239.6% 951,696 462.1% 53,036 198.3% 112 489.5% 6/11 Poverty Bay (4) 43,822 11.6% 660,104 23.1% 68,842 167.4% 75 22.7% 7/11 Waikato (5) 164,480 13.2% 1,659,600 7.7% 266,619 34.4% 127 11.2% 7/11 Canterbury 371,130 5.3% 2,141,154 15.2% 342,372 9.9% 125 9.6% 8/11 Poverty Bay (6) 87,534 26.5% 623,964 29.5% 72,890 43.4% 73 22.3% Notes: (1) Wellington RC; 9 races this year, compared to 10 last year. (2) Otago RC; 10 races this year, compared to 11 last year. (3) Paeroa RC; meeting was abandoned after 2 races last year due to unsafe track conditions. (4) Poverty Bay TC; 9 races this year, compared to 10 last year. (5) Waikato RC; 10 races this year, compared to 11 last year. (6) Poverty Bay TC; 9 races this year, compared to 10 last year. Thoroughbred Summary – 09/10 Year To Date 1 August 2009 – 8 November 2009 Off Course On Course Fixed Odds Total Turnover $101,346,872 $10,657,219 $12,919,812 $124,923,9 03 Variance v Last Year 1.3% 0.9% 29.9% 3.5% Races No of Races v Last Year 817 0.2% 817 0.2% 587 41.1% 817 0.2% Avg. Turnover per Race $124,048 1.1% $13,044 1.1% $22,010 7.9% $152,906 3.2% v Last Year Runners No of Runners v Last 8,620 1.2% 8,620 1.2% 8,620 1.2% Year Avg. Turnover per $11,757 2.6% $1,236 0.3% $14,492 4.8% Runner v Last Year Note: ‘Total’ figure includes On-course, Off-course, Fixed Odds, Pick 6 and Six Pack Turnover.Turnover figures are supplied by the New Zealand Racing Board.