September 7, 2023 • 10 mins
You've heard the stories about Phar Lap. He was Australia's greatest-ever racehorse. A national treasure. So much so, that his unusually large heart, which is thought to be the source of his incredible abilities, is famously on display in Canberra. But the thing is...that heart sitting in a museum might actually be a fake.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
We've all heard the story of Filap. He was a legend,
Australia's greatest ever race horse and national treasure. He won
race after race, leaving all the other horses in his dust,
and then he died suddenly and under mysterious circumstances. After
(00:26):
his death, Firelap's heart traveled the country on display before
finally settling into its forever home the National Museum of
Australia in Canberra. Thousands of people go to see it
every week, ensuring generations of kids grow up learning about Farlap.
But that heart on display, it might not even be
(00:47):
his real heart.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Hi, I'm Tony Armstrong.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Welcome to the ballroom where we celebrate the winners, losers
and the weird stuff between. When Farlap first arrived in
(01:22):
Australia in nineteen twenty eight, he wasn't exactly a beauty.
In fact, he was described as gangly with a face
covered in warts, not exactly sought after qualities for a racehorse.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
David J.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Davis, the rich businessman who bought Farlap and shipped him
over from New Zealand, was furious when he first saw
the horse and refused to pay for his training, but
Sydney trainer Harry Telford, the guy responsible for convincing Davis
to buy him, believed in Farlap's potential and set to
work training and entering him in races, and.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
The rest is history, right, well not exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Farlap finished last in his first race, and he didn't
place at all in the next three races, But then
his odds began looking up. He came second in the
Chelmsford Stakes in September nineteen twenty nine, before winning an
extraordinary four races in a row.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
People started to pay attention.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
So when the nineteen twenty nine Melbourne Cup rolled around,
one of the biggest horse races in the world, hunters
lined up around the block to place their bets. Filap
was considered a sure fire winner. The underdog made good,
(02:51):
then a crushing blow, he only came third. All those
people who had bet on far ended up losing and
estimated one million dollars had his winning streak just been
a fluke.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Of course, you know that wasn't the case.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Filap followed up by winning an astounding fourteen races in
a row.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
He also won thirty two of his.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Last thirty five races, cementing his status as one of
the top thoroughbred champions of the twentieth.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Century, Filelap captured the hearts of the nation.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Filap's reign was so impactful because it coincided with the
Great Depression. Australia was one of the country struck the hardest,
and in response to all this uncertainty, people turned to
horse racing. When Farlap arrived on the scene, horse racing
was one of the most popular sports in the world
and everyday Australians were looking for a ray of light,
(03:52):
something to pin their hopes and dreams on. Filap was
everything they wanted, an Australian champion who seemed unstoppable. However,
winning that many races in a row meant other horses
weren't winning, and that meant lots of people were losing
lots of money, and some of those people weren't going
to take that lying down. In nineteen thirty, there were
(04:18):
two assassination attempts on Firelap's life. A truck tried to
run him down, almost killing his trainer, who had quickly
pulled him to safety. Then, on the first of November
nineteen thirty, Filap had just finished training when two men
slowly drove past the race course and shot at him.
(04:41):
Fortunately they missed, and Filap, unfazed, went on to win
the Melbourne Stakes later that same day. But the danger
wasn't over just yet. Remember David J. Davis, the original
buyer of Filap. When he saw how much success his
horse was, he decided to take a more active role
(05:03):
in his ownership. He wanted to take Filap to Mexico
to race where there was huge prize money on offer.
Harry Telford, Filap's trainer, disagreed with this decision and refused
to go, but another trainer, Tommy Woodcock, took his place
and Filap won, earning Davis about fifty thousand US dollars
(05:25):
around one point six million Australian dollars in today's money.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Davis was ecstatic and sent the.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Champion to a ranch in California while he set to
work dreaming up new ways for Filap to earn him money.
But tragically, Filap never got a chance to race again.
One morning, Tommy Woodcock noticed Filap was running a fever
and seemed to be in severe pain. He ran for
the vet, but nothing could be done. A few hours later,
(05:59):
Fileap col lapsed in Tommy's Arms, Australia's greatest ever race horse,
had died. There are multiple theories for what caused Filap's death.
The wildest and most commonly held is that American mobsters
poison the horse, concerned that he might cause them to
(06:19):
lose money. So many conspiracies swirl around his life and
the circumstances of his death, and I don't have time
to cover them all here. But one that I can't
get my head around is the fact that Filap's heart,
kept in pride of place at the National Museum of
Australia and Canberra, might not even be his.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
See.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
After Firelap's death, the Vet conducted an autopsy and although
the results were widely debated, they did discover something interesting.
Filap's heart was one point five times bigger than a
normal thoroughbred.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
People believed that this.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Giant heart was where Filap got his nominal abilities from,
and it even inspired the saying are heard as big
as Filapse, meaning someone of great courage, generosity and strength.
The heart, alongside filapse, mounted hide, and his skeleton were
all sent back to Australia by boat, while the rest
(07:19):
of his remains were placed in an unmarked grave somewhere
in California, and this is where the rumors started. The
story goes that the heart brought back to Australia actually
belonged to some other random horse, and that Filap's real
heart was cut to pieces in the autopsy. As the
years of past, these rumors refused to go away, so
(07:42):
in twenty twenty, the National Museum decided to undergo top
secret DNA testing to try and settle the debate once
and for all.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Several samples that.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Were tested revealed extreme DNA degradation and limited DNA amount.
They didn't yield results, but one was usable, and the lab.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Matched this against the sample of filaps hair.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Guess what it wasn't a match, meaning it wasn't Filap's heart.
Everyone involved was dumbfounded, and a tense meeting immediately followed,
with the team responsible recognizing how incredibly controversial this news
would be. But this is the legend of Filab, which
means that nothing is ever simple. In yet another shock move,
(08:37):
the scientists responsible for the testing came back days later.
Apparently there had been a sample mix up. The heart
they tested had been a quote comparison Army Horsehart, not
the sample labeled as Filap's heart. They requested more samples
from the museum to continue with the process, and to
the shock of the laboratory, the museum refused and call
(09:00):
to stop to any further testing, which means that unless
more conclusive proof arrives, we still can't know for certain
whether that really is Filaps.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Heard in camera.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
But if you really do want to know, there's something
you can do. Go find Filaps missing grave, said to
be buried in a metal box on a property in Athleton, California.
According to the rumors, there you'll find far Laps, real heart,
actual size currently unknown.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
The pool room is an iHeart production. Thanks so much
for listening.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
I'm Tony Armstrong and I'll catch you in the next episode.
We've all heard the story of Filap. He was a legend,
Australia's greatest ever race horse and national treasure. He won
race after race, leaving all the other horses in his dust,
and then he died suddenly and under mysterious circumstances. After
(00:26):
his death, Firelap's heart traveled the country on display before
finally settling into its forever home the National Museum of
Australia in Canberra. Thousands of people go to see it
every week, ensuring generations of kids grow up learning about Farlap.
But that heart on display, it might not even be
(00:47):
his real heart.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Hi, I'm Tony Armstrong.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Welcome to the ballroom where we celebrate the winners, losers
and the weird stuff between. When Farlap first arrived in
(01:22):
Australia in nineteen twenty eight, he wasn't exactly a beauty.
In fact, he was described as gangly with a face
covered in warts, not exactly sought after qualities for a racehorse.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
David J.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Davis, the rich businessman who bought Farlap and shipped him
over from New Zealand, was furious when he first saw
the horse and refused to pay for his training, but
Sydney trainer Harry Telford, the guy responsible for convincing Davis
to buy him, believed in Farlap's potential and set to
work training and entering him in races, and.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
The rest is history, right, well not exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Farlap finished last in his first race, and he didn't
place at all in the next three races, But then
his odds began looking up. He came second in the
Chelmsford Stakes in September nineteen twenty nine, before winning an
extraordinary four races in a row.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
People started to pay attention.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
So when the nineteen twenty nine Melbourne Cup rolled around,
one of the biggest horse races in the world, hunters
lined up around the block to place their bets. Filap
was considered a sure fire winner. The underdog made good,
(02:51):
then a crushing blow, he only came third. All those
people who had bet on far ended up losing and
estimated one million dollars had his winning streak just been
a fluke.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Of course, you know that wasn't the case.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Filap followed up by winning an astounding fourteen races in
a row.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
He also won thirty two of his.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Last thirty five races, cementing his status as one of
the top thoroughbred champions of the twentieth.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Century, Filelap captured the hearts of the nation.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Filap's reign was so impactful because it coincided with the
Great Depression. Australia was one of the country struck the hardest,
and in response to all this uncertainty, people turned to
horse racing. When Farlap arrived on the scene, horse racing
was one of the most popular sports in the world
and everyday Australians were looking for a ray of light,
(03:52):
something to pin their hopes and dreams on. Filap was
everything they wanted, an Australian champion who seemed unstoppable. However,
winning that many races in a row meant other horses
weren't winning, and that meant lots of people were losing
lots of money, and some of those people weren't going
to take that lying down. In nineteen thirty, there were
(04:18):
two assassination attempts on Firelap's life. A truck tried to
run him down, almost killing his trainer, who had quickly
pulled him to safety. Then, on the first of November
nineteen thirty, Filap had just finished training when two men
slowly drove past the race course and shot at him.
(04:41):
Fortunately they missed, and Filap, unfazed, went on to win
the Melbourne Stakes later that same day. But the danger
wasn't over just yet. Remember David J. Davis, the original
buyer of Filap. When he saw how much success his
horse was, he decided to take a more active role
(05:03):
in his ownership. He wanted to take Filap to Mexico
to race where there was huge prize money on offer.
Harry Telford, Filap's trainer, disagreed with this decision and refused
to go, but another trainer, Tommy Woodcock, took his place
and Filap won, earning Davis about fifty thousand US dollars
(05:25):
around one point six million Australian dollars in today's money.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Davis was ecstatic and sent the.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Champion to a ranch in California while he set to
work dreaming up new ways for Filap to earn him money.
But tragically, Filap never got a chance to race again.
One morning, Tommy Woodcock noticed Filap was running a fever
and seemed to be in severe pain. He ran for
the vet, but nothing could be done. A few hours later,
(05:59):
Fileap col lapsed in Tommy's Arms, Australia's greatest ever race horse,
had died. There are multiple theories for what caused Filap's death.
The wildest and most commonly held is that American mobsters
poison the horse, concerned that he might cause them to
(06:19):
lose money. So many conspiracies swirl around his life and
the circumstances of his death, and I don't have time
to cover them all here. But one that I can't
get my head around is the fact that Filap's heart,
kept in pride of place at the National Museum of
Australia and Canberra, might not even be his.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
See.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
After Firelap's death, the Vet conducted an autopsy and although
the results were widely debated, they did discover something interesting.
Filap's heart was one point five times bigger than a
normal thoroughbred.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
People believed that this.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Giant heart was where Filap got his nominal abilities from,
and it even inspired the saying are heard as big
as Filapse, meaning someone of great courage, generosity and strength.
The heart, alongside filapse, mounted hide, and his skeleton were
all sent back to Australia by boat, while the rest
(07:19):
of his remains were placed in an unmarked grave somewhere
in California, and this is where the rumors started. The
story goes that the heart brought back to Australia actually
belonged to some other random horse, and that Filap's real
heart was cut to pieces in the autopsy. As the
years of past, these rumors refused to go away, so
(07:42):
in twenty twenty, the National Museum decided to undergo top
secret DNA testing to try and settle the debate once
and for all.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Several samples that.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Were tested revealed extreme DNA degradation and limited DNA amount.
They didn't yield results, but one was usable, and the lab.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Matched this against the sample of filaps hair.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Guess what it wasn't a match, meaning it wasn't Filap's heart.
Everyone involved was dumbfounded, and a tense meeting immediately followed,
with the team responsible recognizing how incredibly controversial this news
would be. But this is the legend of Filab, which
means that nothing is ever simple. In yet another shock move,
(08:37):
the scientists responsible for the testing came back days later.
Apparently there had been a sample mix up. The heart
they tested had been a quote comparison Army Horsehart, not
the sample labeled as Filap's heart. They requested more samples
from the museum to continue with the process, and to
the shock of the laboratory, the museum refused and call
(09:00):
to stop to any further testing, which means that unless
more conclusive proof arrives, we still can't know for certain
whether that really is Filaps.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Heard in camera.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
But if you really do want to know, there's something
you can do. Go find Filaps missing grave, said to
be buried in a metal box on a property in Athleton, California.
According to the rumors, there you'll find far Laps, real heart,
actual size currently unknown.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
The pool room is an iHeart production. Thanks so much
for listening.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
I'm Tony Armstrong and I'll catch you in the next episode.
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