Phar Lap: chemical killer confirmed

摘要

After almost 80 years of speculation and some frustratingly inconclusive laboratory tests, it's now official: the tragic and painful death of famous racehorse Phar Lap in 1932 was the result of ingesting a large dose of arsenic. When New Zealand-born, Australian-bred Phar Lap died in suspicious circumstances in California soon after winning the Agua Caliente Handicap in record time, his death attracted intense public speculation. Was it murder by poisoning, a tonic overdose, acute colic or gastroenteritis?