Phar Lap: Australia's wonder horse

He triumphed during the Great Depression of the early 1930s, when a hero was most needed by the people of Australia.

He conquered the local racing scene—36 wins from his last 41 starts—and then won North America's richest race, the Agua Caliente Handicap, in 1932.

A fortnight later he went to the great equine heaven in the skies, struck down by a mystery illness that many suspected was the work of gangsters.