Airlines offer to fly fragile Phar Lap's heart

The Wellington Racing Club is considering offers from airlines to help transport the heart of Phar Lap to New Zealand after the Australian National Museum said it was too fragile to move.

The Trentham-based club wants the heart of the champion galloper to take pride of place at the race course's centenary celebrations next year and despite the reluctance of the Australian museum to release the heart, organisers believe they can ease the Australians' concerns.

Club committee member Gerry Morris said they were doing everything they could to secure the 6.2kg organ for a temporary stay in Wellington, even if it was for only two days.

Prime Minister Helen Clark's office had expressed a willingness to help, although no official word had been received, and they intended to approach the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Racing, Winston Peters, to help.

"We will see if Winston Peters will go with us to Australia and see if we can meet all their concerns," Mr Morris said.

The museum had said the heart, which is in climatically controlled hibernation, was too fragile to be moved but Mr Morris said two airlines had offered to transport the heart in business class with an attendant to ensure its safety.

Mr Morris said the message to Australia was New Zealand had an equally important role in the celebrations of Phar Lap.

"Phar Lap is not just an Australian icon, it's an Australasian icon," Mr Morris said.

Despite previous attempts to host the heart being dismissed by the museum, Mr Morris was confident they could work with the Australians to alleviate their concerns.

The heart is continued in fluid inside a box and protected against ultra violet rays by special casing but is due to return to the museum in Canberra late next month -- shortly after the 75th anniversary of Phar Lap's epic Cox Plate-Melbourne Cup double and is expected to be on display for at least three years.

Museum director Freda Hanley has said the museum would not rule out lending items on permanent display but said the safe transportation of the heart was a major concern.

If an application was received, the museum's conservators would weigh up the risk before a decision was recommended to the museum's directors, she said.

"Australia's biggest concern is getting it back," Mr Morris said.

Though born near Timaru, Trentham also has a connection to the 17-hand chestnut gelding, given it was the scene of Phar Lap's sale as a yearling in 1928.

He also trained on the track in preparation for his final ill-fated trip to the United States in 1932.

The club already had access to Phar Lap's skeleton, at Te Papa, because the 100th anniversary dinner will also be held at New Zealand's national museum.

Phar Lap's hide is preserved at the Museum Victoria in Melbourne, where it rates as one of the institution's premier attractions.

The horse won 37 of his 51 starts, including 14 in a row in 1930-31, before dying suspiciously in California 73 years ago.

- NZPA