Phar Lap’s heart

This is the preserved heart of Phar Lap, a champion racehorse in the late 1920s and early 1930s. It is unusually large – 6.2 kg against the average 4 kg size of a horse's heart. A triangular section has been removed, which it is believed was taken for a biopsy. The heart is preserved as a ‘wet specimen’ submersed in a formalin solution, sealed inside a rectangular clear perspex container. Other parts of Phar Lap are held by other museums – his skeleton is at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and his hide is at Museum Victoria.