Phar Lap won the 1930 Melbourne Cup, carrying 9 stone 12 pounds to victory at Flemington.
Bred in New Zealand in 1926, Phar Lap was an unusually large chestnut gelding who became one of Australia’s most celebrated racehorses. His Melbourne Cup victory came during the Great Depression and made him a national symbol of hope.
Phar Lap won 14 races in succession before the Cup and was heavily backed by the public. He later won the Agua Caliente Handicap in Mexico in 1932, but died in California only weeks afterward. His death has long inspired theories about poisoning, although the exact cause remains debated.
Carbine won the Melbourne Cup in 1890, while Makybe Diva won it three times from 2003 to 2005. Those horses are famous Cup winners, but neither won the 1930 edition.