Thursday, 26 November 2009: A life-size sculpture of Phar Lap has been erected in the New Zealand town where the iconic racehorse was born.
Phar Lap was born and raised in a paddock three kilometres outside Timaru on New Zealand's south island.
He never raced in New Zealand, going to Australia after he was sold as a yearling where he became the hero of the nation in 1929, 1930 and 1931 with his amazing racetrack exploits.
He was then sent to America, where he died in California in 1932.
A bronze sculpture of the champion, weighing 850 kilograms, has been unveiled at Timaru racecourse.
Timaru locals now want to build a Phar Lap museum and are campaigning to get the champion's heart and hide back from Australia.
Phar Lap's hide is held by the Melbourne Museum and his heart is in Canberra's National Museum.
His skeleton is on display in New Zealand in the Te Papa Museum in Wellington.
Timaru residents raised $100,000 towards the $200,000 cost of the life-size statue of Phar Lap, who was born in 1926.
The celebrations have included the launch of a specially labelled souvenir Phar Lap beer that sells for $NZ10 a bottle.
