Phar Lap skeleton on loan to Melbourne

Phar Lap's skeleton will need modifying before the trip. Photo / Supplied

The preserved skeleton of legendary Kiwi racehorse Phar Lap, who won 33 of his last 35 races, including the Melbourne Cup, is to be loaned by Te Papa to Melbourne Museum, where it will be reunited with his hide as part of the 150th Melbourne Cup celebrations.

Te Papa says the resulting goodwill may one day lead to a return gesture of Australia loaning the hide to New Zealand.

Phar Lap's heart is kept in Canberra. Australia and New Zealand both claim the racehorse, because although he was bred in Timaru, he produced many of his famous racing exploits across the Tasman.

Phar Lap died in the United States in 1932 from a sudden and mysterious illness, and the loan of his skeleton will be the first time it has travelled overseas since it arrived in New Zealand in 1933.

Victorian Racing Minister Rob Hulls said the clearance to borrow the skeleton was "a major coup for Melbourne, as New Zealand has never before agreed to lend Big Red's skeleton to an international museum".

Asked if New Zealanders should be concerned that Australia wanted the skeleton to itself, Te Papa spokeswoman Jane Keig said: "There is no fear of that happening. This is a museum to museum agreement, and we've worked with Melbourne Museum on occasion ... so we have a very collegial relationship with them".

Following the loan request by the Victorian government, an assessment was done to ensure the skeleton was in a condition to be sent overseas.

"The assessment did show that the framework supporting Phar Lap's head and neck had gradually slumped since he was first articulated, and our object support team will be making a modification to this to ensure he is looking 'proud' again," Ms Keig said.

Asked what New Zealand could get in return, she said Phar Lap's heart was too fragile to be brought across to New Zealand.

"It would be like us lending our colossal squid. It just wouldn't happen," she said. "It would be fantastic if the hide could come over here. It's not something we are actively pursuing at the moment."

Work on Phar Lap's skeleton will take place publicly in his display case from Tuesday next week.