PHAR LAP’S TRIP

Taranaki Daily News, 13 January 1932, Page 4

PHAR LAP’S TRIP

A POPULAR PASSENGER. MOST DOCILE OF ANIMALS. According to Dr. B. F. Hindmarsh, of New South Wales, the famous New Zealand racehorse, Phar Lap, was the most popular passenger on the Monowai when it sailed for San Francisco late last month. Dr. Hindmarsh was a passenger to Rarotonga, where he spent a few weeks’ holiday. All the passengers, he said on passing through Wellington this week on his return, made it part of their daily routine to go up to Phar Lap’s quarters and spend some time in admiring the horse. He was one of the most docile animals Dr. Hindmarsh had ever known; he would allow people to come up to him and stroke his nose, and would be perfectly friendly with all ' and sundry. As a sailor he would take a lot of beating. “In fact,” Dr. Hindmarsh said, “I asked the vet., Mr. Neilson, how the horse was a day or so before we reached Rarotonga, and he replied that he was ‘a darn sight better than I am.’ ” The men in charge of the horse were all confident that he would do well in America. They had said Phar Lap had already knocked a second off the American record and they were certain that if only he could become acclimatised his performances would justify the risk of taking him on such a long journey. On the Monowai, Dr. Hindmarsh said, the horse had received the very greatest care and attention, and seemed to be in perfect condition. He had not been taken ashore at Rarotojpga, but at Papeete probably he would have been given some shore exercise.