27 Jun 2013

Phar Lap DNA testing

From Afternoons, 2:10 pm on 27 June 2013

His Heart is in Canberra, his hide is in Melbourne, his bones are at Te Papa and soon the DNA of Phar Lap will be in a Test Tube in Adelaide. The University of Sydney's Veterinary Science team leading a project to analyze the champion thoroughbred's DNA to try and determine what gave the New Zealand born horse the speed and strength to win 37 of his 51 starts, he start as the favorite in three successive Melbourne Cups. Te Papa provided the sample for the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA at the University of Adelaide to do the testing. Dr. Natasha Hamilton is the team leader from the University of Sydney and she is on the line with us.