HISTORIC FILM OF PHAR LAP TO BE SHOWN AT ROYAL RANDWICK The Mighty Conqueror - a ten-minute film about Phar Lap made in late 1931 - was recently uncovered after the canister containing the original 35mm nitrate film was donated by Sydney racing media doyen Max Presnell to the Australian Turf Club, which in turn gave the film to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA). The only documentary made of Phar Lap while he was still alive will be screened in full for all racegoers at Royal Randwick on Saturday. The historic film features close ups of Phar Lap with his strapper Tommy Woodcock, rare footage at Royal Randwick trackwork and in Centennial Park, and includes interviews with several of the most important people in his story, including jockey Jim Pike and trainer and co-owner Harry Telford. Phar Lap is also filmed winning several races, including his famous 1930 Melbourne Cup, and the 1931 Randwick Plate, run on 10 October 1931. That latter event, a two-horse race after Phar Lap scared away the opposition in the weight for age race, is the only known footage of the race and the last time the ‘Red Terror would run at a Sydney race meeting. The Mighty Conqueror finishes with Phar Lap being loaded on to the Ulimaroa at Sydney docks in November 1931, bound for a spell in New Zealand, before his voyage to the USA and a date with destiny in the Agua Caliente Handicap in Mexico. An excerpt of the video can be viewed at youtu.be/bJcky5QK4_E.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 02:22:57 +0000
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