Phar Laps Cause Of Death Determined 75 Years Later - GoFuckYourself.com

SykkBoy · 06-20-2008, 02:38 PM

Quote:

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP)?Forensic scientists say champion Australian gelding Phar Lap died of arsenic poisoning, solving a mystery that has intrigued the horse racing world for more than 75 years.

Phar Lap won 37 of his 51 starts before his death in mysterious circumstances at Menlo Park in California in April 1932. Days before his death, he won Mexico?s Agua Caliente Handicap, which was then the richest horse race in North America.

Arsenic poisoning has long been suspected as the cause of Phar Lap?s death, but confirmation had been lacking until Thursday when researchers Dr. Ivan Kempson of the University of South Australia and Dermot Henry, manager of Natural Science Collections at Museum Victoria, released the findings of their forensic investigation.

Kempson took six hairs from Phar Lap?s mane and analyzed them at the Advanced Photon Source Synchrotron in Chicago, finding that in the 40 hours before Phar Lap?s death the horse had ingested a massive dose of arsenic.

Phar Lap?s mounted hide is on display at the Melbourne Museum, while his heart is kept at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.

?We can?t speculate where the arsenic came from, but it was easily accessible at the time,? Henry said.

Notebooks kept by Phar Lap?s handler Tommy Woodcock, obtained by Museum Victoria, show the horse was administered tonics and ointments containing both arsenic and strychnine. An accidental overdose has long been considered the likely cause of death.

http://sports.yahoo.com/rah/news?slu...v=ap&type=lgns

It's amazing what they can do with forensic science these days...

GrouchyAdmin · 06-20-2008, 02:39 PM

Talk about beating (then centrifuging the enzymes of a) a dead horse.

d-null · 06-20-2008, 03:43 PM

arsenic was used as a medicine for hundreds of years

papill0n · 06-20-2008, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jetjet

arsenic was used as a medicine for hundreds of years

Yeah, they use to give it to the horses daily too. Looks like some shady fucker has given phar lap too much though

CaveCreek_Russell · 06-20-2008, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RageCash-Ben

Yeah, they use to give it to the horses daily too. Looks like some shady fucker has given phar lap too much though

Did they really? I read once that horses have an incredibly sensitive diet and can die from something as simple as indigestion. Feeding them arsenic sounds bizarre.

edit: Maybe I didn't read it, now that I think about it, I think it might have been an episode of CSI.

papill0n · 06-20-2008, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaveCreek_Russell

Did they really? I read once that horses have an incredibly sensitive diet and can die from something as simple as indigestion. Feeding them arsenic sounds bizarre.

edit: Maybe I didn't read it, now that I think about it, I think it might have been an episode of CSI.

Lol as bizarre as it sounds Russel Arsenic was a regular part of a race horses diet back in the day. Obviously in small quantities though.

06-20-2008, 02:39 PM	#2
GrouchyAdmin Now choke yourself! Industry Role: Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 12,085	Talk about beating (then centrifuging the enzymes of a) a dead horse. __________________ AIM: GrouchyGfy

06-20-2008, 03:43 PM	#3
d-null . . . Industry Role: Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: NY Posts: 13,724	arsenic was used as a medicine for hundreds of years __________________ __________________ Looking for a custom TUBE SCRIPT that supports massive traffic, load balancing, billing support, and h264 encoding? Hit up Konrad! Looking for designs for your websites or custom tubesite design? Hit up Zuzana Designs Check out the #1 WordPress SEO Plugin: CyberSEO Suite