The Extraordinary Phar Lap Trivia Quiz

Answer: 4.October.1926

Foaled at Seadown Stud, Timaru, in New Zealand's South Island. He was by a well-bred but poorly performed bay stallion from England named Night Raid and out of a Entreaty, a black mare who was also well-bred but broke down at her only start. None of her other nine foals to race amounted to anything approaching Phar Lap.

But he had the great Carbine in his pedigree, winner of the 1890 Melbourne Cup, among many other races. Carbine also sired Spearmint who won the 1906 Epsom Derby. Phar Lap's chestnut colouring must also have been a throwback.

Answer: Rosehill, N.S.W.

Phar Lap's first win was a Maiden Juvenile Handicap over 6 furlongs. It was a big field of 21 runners and he won by a half length from Voleuse with Pure Tea two lengths further back. This was also his last start as a two-year-old, having been unplaced in four other starts.

Answer: Jack Baker

Jack Baker was a lightly weighted apprentice who had the benefit of a 5lb allowance and rode Phar Lap to win with only 7st 9lb (48.5kg) on his back. He was by far the best horse Jack Baker would ever ride. "Cashy" Martin did ride Phar Lap and was twice unplaced but he rode Phar Lap occasionally in work as he also worked for Harry Telford.

He died some few years later in a race fall. Munro and McCarten were also both brilliant jockeys, the latter was also a brilliant trainer.

Answer: Tommy Woodcock

Aaron Treve "Tommy" Woodcock, was born in Bellbrook, northern New South Wales, on 8th October 1905 and lived there for the first six years of his life. After his beloved "Bobby" died, Tommy continued to train in the U.S. for a brief time and then returned to train in Australia. He preferred a very small team of horses with owners who loved their horses above all else and as a result only enjoyed moderate success but that was how he liked it best. In the 1970s, he again tasted hero worship when the public adored his mighty-hearted stallion, Reckless, who won the 1977 Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane Cups and just went down in the home run to be second to Gold And Black in that year's Melbourne Cup.

Tommy used to give children rides on his horses and was loved by a racing public who never forgot. He passed away in April 1986 having seen and assisted in the story of his beloved Phar Lap being brought to the big screen, in which he had a cameo appearance.

Answer: 9st 12lb

The metric equivalent is 62.5kg and with ease did he take out the race, three lengths clear of Second Wind with Shadow King 3/4 of a length behind him. He also started the shortest-priced favourite in history at 8-11 on.

Answer: 4

[o] 1st November 1920 he won the VRC Melbourne Stakes (now the L.K.S MacKinnon Stakes) over 10 furlongs at Weight-for-Age by 3 lengths with 8st 11lb;
[o] 4th November he won the Cup, a handicap race;
[o] 6th November he won the VRC Linlithgow Stakes over a mile at Weight-for-Age by 4 lengths with 8st 12lb;
[o] 8th November he won the VRC C.B. Fisher Plate over a mile and a half at Weight-for-Age by 3 1/2 lengths again with 8st 12lb.

A program like that for a horse these days, especially one so valuable, would be unheard of but it was a lot more common then.

Answer: Jim Pike

Jim Pike was a master horseman and already a champion jockey by the time Phar Lap was offered him for the AJC Derby of 1929 (in those days run in the spring, now run in the autumn). He was, unfortunately, to battle against weight gain for most of his career and was only ever really a heavyweight rider.

He won races in England and rode some of the best horses of the day in Australia including the mighty Chatham but eventually weight beat him and, with an ulcerated stomach, he retired from riding in 1936 but still worked as a foreman for some years for Jack Green. Jim Pike was a real gentleman and generous to a fault. Having amassed a fortune as a jockey, he gave much of it away helping out others so that when he passed away at the age of 77 on 7th October 1969, he did so a poor man.

Answer: 5

Phar Lap relegated Nightmarch to second place 5 times in 7 months. Nightmarch was an exceptional horse, just not in the same league as Phar Lap. When he beat Phar Lap in the 1929 Melbourne Cup, it wasn't because Phar Lap couldn't have won it, it was because his jockey couldn't hold him and he bolted, tiring towards the end but still running third. Out of the ten jockeys who ever rode Phar Lap, only Bobby Lewis couldn't handle him. By 1929 he was getting old and though he had a brilliant career behind him, he was no longer strong enough to hold a headstrong 17 hand three-year-old with a 25-foot stride.

Answer: 7

1930 AJC St.Leger, 1930 AJC Cumberland Stakes, 1930 AJC Plate, 1930 SAJC Elder Stakes, 1930 AJC Randwick Plate, 1930 VRC C.B. Fisher Plate and the 1931 AJC Randwick Plate.

By his three-year-old season, many owners and trainers refused to start their horses against Phar Lap, preferring easier game but it meant many missed the best races because Phar Lap was in them! There were also times when bookies closed their bags and refused to take bets on races in which he ran.

Answer: 1931 VRC Melbourne Stakes

The Cox Plate was his second last win and he did not race in either of the other two because they're both held in the autumn and Phar Lap was already in the U.S. They were, however, races he had previously won.