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Phar Lap - Dual Signed Artist Proof

"Tommy Woodcock & Richard Stone Reeve"

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Personally hand signed Artist Proof by: Tommy Woodcock & Richard Stone Reeve

Accompanied by an official Certificate of Authenticity

Print Size: 720mm x 560mm

Framed Size: 800mm x 620mm

Signed in Pencil - no fades - no dis-colouration - no rips - tears or wrinkles

 

Click image for closer view

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Sold Out

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About the Artist Richard Stone Reeve:

Richard Stone Reeves, perhaps the greatest modern-day horse artist, died Oct. 7 2005 at Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport, N.Y USA. He was 85.

Born in New York City, Reeves grew up in Garden City on Long Island. His father's family included a painter and his mother's owned race horses. Those influences, plus living near Belmont Park, resulted in his love of horses and desire to paint them.

Reeves graduated with a Fine Arts degree from Syracuse University. He served with the United States Navy during World War II after which he embarked on a career as a painter of horses. His big break came when LIFE magazine featured his painting of 1947 Horse of the Year, Armed. That publicity led to his being hired to do private portraitures for many American and European horse owners. As well as portraits, Reeves did a number of action scenes from memorable races. More than a dozen of his works can be found at in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York.

History of the Edition:

Extremely Rare Artist Proofs signed by Tommy Woodcock and the artist Richard Stone Reeves.

Printed by Triton Press and offered by the Newmarket Gallery in New York in 1984 these prints were flown from the USA to Australia to be signed by Tommy Woodcock in what turned out to be the final days of his life. A numbered edition of 850 were signed All prints in the edition being numbered individually except for these Artist Proofs which were used to arrive at the final print selection. When Tommy Woodcock signed a small number of the Artist proofs he signed his name with the letters A/P next to his signature displaying these were the actual artist proofs and not a part of the edition that was released to the market which sold out within months of its release. This A/P being noted makes these artist proofs one of a kind aside from the actual edition of 850 and are a very highly valued and rare investment. Nowadays Artist Proofs of any edition are the most expensive item to be purchased in any form of art, let alone one with such significance and the calibre of this Immortal of the Australian Turf and also and Australian Icon. People across the globe that have never been to Australia or even follow horse racing all know of and have heard about the great PHAR LAP!

This proof has been printed on High Quality French archive paper and have been kept flat in between acid proof paper and as such are in mint condition

About Tommy Woodcock:

Aaron Treve "Tommy" Woodcock (1905 – 1985) was the Australian handler of racehorse, Phar Lap. He was born at Uralgurra, near Kempsey, New South Wales, in 1905. Woodcock served an apprenticeship as a jockey under Barney Quinn, who was based at Randwick, in Sydney. He won several starts, and worked as a jockey until 1927, when he was 22 years old. However as his size and weight increased he gave up jockeying in favour of riding work and strapping for trainers.

It was in this way that he met Harry Telford and the great horse Phar Lap. In 1929, Telford employed Woodcock full-time as Phar Lap's strapper. From then on, Tommy and Phar Lap were virtually inseparable. Before big races, Woodcock would sleep outside Phar Lap's stable, and it was said that Phar Lap refused food from anyone but Tommy.

Following on from Phar Lap's defeat in the 1932 Melbourne Cup the great horse was shipped to America, where he competed in and won the Agua Caliente Handicap. Shortly afterwards, on 5 April 1932, Phar Lap died suddenly. Ever the devoted strapper, Woodcock was with him in his final moments.

Woodcock continued to work with horses until his retirement in 1983. In his later years he achieved fame through training Reckless, a stayer who ran second in the 1977 Melbourne Cup.

Tommy Woodcock died at Yarrawonga on 27 April 1985, aged 79.

About Phar Lap:

Phar Lap (1926–1932) was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse whose achievements captured the public's imagination during the early years of the Great Depression. Foaled in New Zealand,he was trained and raced in Australia. Phar Lap dominated Australian racing during a distinguished career, winning a Melbourne Cup, two Cox Plates and 19 other weight for age races.He then won the Agua Caliente Handicap in Tijuana, Mexico in track-record time in his final race.After a sudden and mysterious illness, Phar Lap died in 1932. At the time, he was the third highest stakes-winner in the world.

His mounted hide is displayed at the Melbourne Museum, his skeleton at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and his heart at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.

The Name:

The name Phar Lap derives from the shared Zhuang language and Thai word for lightning, lit. 'sky flash'.

Phar Lap was called the "Wonder Horse", "Red Terror", "Bobby" and "Big Red" (the latter nickname was also given to two of the greatest US racehorses, Man o' War and Secretariat).He was sometimes referred as "Australia's wonder horse".

According to the Museum Victoria, Aubrey Ping, a student at the University of Sydney, suggested "farlap" as the horse's name. Telford liked the name, but changed the F to PH to create a seven letter word, which was split in two in keeping with the dominant naming pattern of Melbourne Cup winners.

Phar Lap's Early life

A chestnut gelding, Phar Lap was foaled on 4 October 1926 in Seadown near Timaru in the South Island of New Zealand.He was sired by Night Raid from Entreaty by Winkie. He was by the same sire as the Melbourne Cup winner Nightmarch.

Sydney trainer Harry Telford persuaded American businessman David J. Davis to buy the colt at auction, based on his pedigree. Telford's brother Hugh, who lived in New Zealand, was asked to bid up to 190 guineas at the 1928 Trentham Yearling Sales. When the horse was obtained for a mere 160 guineas, he thought it was a great bargain until the colt arrived in Australia. The horse was gangly, his face was covered with warts, and he had an awkward gait. Davis was furious when he saw the colt as well, and refused to pay to train the horse. Telford had not been particularly successful as a trainer, and Davis was one of his few remaining owners. To placate Davis, he agreed to train the horse for nothing, in exchange for a two-thirds share of any winnings. Telford leased the horse for three years and was eventually sold joint ownership by Davis.

Although standing a winning racehorse at stud could be quite lucrative, Telford gelded Phar Lap anyway, hoping the colt would concentrate on racing.

Phar Lap finished last in the first race and did not place in his next three races. He won his first race on 27 April 1929, the Maiden Juvenile Handicap (maiden = a race for horses that had previously not won a race) at Rosehill, ridden by Jack Baker of Armidale, a 17-year-old apprentice. He didn't race for several months but was then entered in a series of races, in which he moved up in class. Phar Lap took second in the Chelmsford Stakes at Randwick on 14 September 1929 and the racing community started treating him with respect.

As his achievements grew, there were some who tried to halt his progress. Criminals tried to shoot Phar Lap on the morning of Saturday 1 November 1930 after he had finished track work. They missed, and later that day he won the Melbourne Stakes, and three days later the Melbourne Cup as odds-on favourite at 8 to 11.

Phar Laps Racing Life:

In the four years of his racing career, Phar Lap won 37 of 51 races he entered, including the Melbourne Cup in 1930 with 9st 12 lb (61.5 kg, or 138 lbs). In that year and 1931, he won 14 races in a row. From his win as a three-year-old in the VRC St. Leger Stakes until his final race in Mexico, Phar Lap won 32 of 35 races. In the three races that he did not win, he ran second on two occasions, beaten by a short head and a neck, and in the 1931 Melbourne Cup he finished eighth when carrying 10 st 10 lb (68 kg).

Phar Lap at the time was owned by American businessman David J. Davis and leased to Telford. After their three year lease agreement ended, Telford had enough money to become joint owner of the horse. Davis then had Phar Lap shipped to America in order to race. Telford did not agree with this decision and refused to go, so Davis sent Tom Woodcock. Phar Lap was shipped by boat to Agua Caliente Racetrack near Tijuana, Mexico, to compete in the Agua Caliente Handicap, which was offering the largest purse ever raced for in North America. Phar Lap won in track-record time while carrying 129 pounds (58.5 kg) and was ridden by Billy Elliot for his seventh win from seven rides.From there, the horse was sent to a private ranch near Menlo Park, California, while his owner negotiated with racetrack officials for special race appearances.

The Death of a Champion:

Early on 5 April 1932, the horse's strapper for the North American visit, Tommy Woodcock, found him in severe pain and having a high temperature. Within a few hours, Phar Lap haemorrhaged to death. Much speculation ensued, and when a necropsy revealed that the horse's stomach and intestines were inflamed, many believed the horse had been deliberately poisoned. There have been alternative theories, including accidental poisoning from lead insecticide and a stomach condition. It was not until the 1980s that the infection could be formally identified.

In 2000, equine specialists studying the two necropsies concluded that Phar Lap probably died of duodenitis-proximal jejunitis, an acute bacterial gastroenteritis.

However, in 2006 Australian Synchrotron Research scientists said it was almost certain Phar Lap was poisoned with a large single dose of arsenic in the hours before he died, perhaps supporting the theory that Phar Lap was killed on the orders of U.S. gangsters, who feared the Melbourne-Cup-winning champion would inflict big losses on their illegal bookmakers. No real evidence of involvement by a criminal element exists, however.

Sydney veterinarian Dr Percy Sykes believes poisoning did not cause the death. He said "In those days, arsenic was quite a common tonic, usually given in the form of a solution (Fowler's Solution)," and suggests this was the cause of the high levels. "It was so common that I'd reckon 90 per cent of the horses had arsenic in their system." In December 2007 Phar Lap's mane was tested to find if he was given repeated doses of arsenic which, if found, would point to accidental poisoning.

On 19 June 2008, the Melbourne Museum released the findings of the forensic investigation conducted by Dr. Ivan Kempson, University of South Australia, and Dermot Henry, Natural Science Collections at Museum Victoria. Dr. Kempson took six hairs from Phar Lap's mane and analyzed them at the Advanced Photon Source in Chicago. These high resolution x-rays detect arsenic in hair samples, showing the specific difference "between arsenic, which had entered the hair cells via the blood and arsenic, which had infused the hair cells by the taxidermy process when he was stuffed and mounted at the museum".

Kempson and Henry discovered that in the 30 to 40 hours before Phar Lap's death, the horse ingested a massive dose of arsenic. "We can't speculate where the arsenic came from, but it was easily accessible at the time," Henry said.

Following his death, Phar Lap's heart was donated to the Institute of Anatomy in Canberra and his skeleton to the New Zealand's National Museum in Wellington. After preparations of the hide by a New York City taxidermist, his stuffed body was placed in the Australia Gallery at Melbourne Museum.

Phar Lap's heart was remarkable for its size, weighing 6.2 kg, compared with a normal horse's heart at 3.2 kg. Now held at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, it is the object visitors most often request to see.

Racing record

1928-29 season as a two year old

1929-30 season as a three year old

1930-31 season as a four year old

1931-32 season as a five year old

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