Legendary Racehorse Killed by Arsenic

摘要

Phar Lap was a legendary racehorse that won many notable stakes. After his triumph in the famous Agua Caliente Handicap in 1932 in Mexico, the animal died in agony under mysterious circumstances while on tour in the U.S. One of the suggestions at the time was that Phar Lap had been poisoned. Ivan M. Kempson (Acade-mia Sinica, Taiwan) and Dermot A. Henry (Museum Victoria, Australia) have subjected the horse's hairs to a very thorough examination, as reported in the journal, Angewandte Chemie. The animal does indeed seem to have died of arsenic poisoning.