The Americans have been cleared of skulduggery in the death of New Zealand's most famous racehorse Phar Lap.
Yesterday was the 74th anniversary of Phar Lap's birth in Timaru. He became Australasia's most celebrated thoroughbred, but his death in California in 1932 has been dogged by controversy.
A new book claims to
prove conclusively that he was not poisoned with arsenic, as has been claimed since his death, but died of a bacterial infection frequently found in horses that have travelled long distances.
"Unfortunately, we have to let the Yanks off," sports commentator Peter Thompson, co-author of Phar Lap, said in Melbourne.
Phar Lap won 37 of his 51 starts, including the 1930 Melbourne Cup.
In 1932, he was taken for a US campaign, but died mysteriously.
No trace of arsenic was found, and contemporary reports of his death, including one by his trainer, Tommy Woodcock, said he had a fever inconsistent with poisoning.
The authors of the new book exhaustively reviewed autopsy reports on the horse, then took their hypothesis to veterinary experts, who confirmed it.
The launch of the book will coincide with a preview of a Phar Lap exhibition at the Melbourne Museum.
- NZPA
