1980 Tassie Medalist wrote:I think it is something to do with the following record
51 starts
37 wins
3 seconds
2 3rds
9 unplaced
8 of the unplaced came in his first two years of racing. Basically from 1930 to 1932 the depression years he was only unplaced once, therefore the punters could go to a race put what little hard earned they had on him and walk out in front.....
8 of those unplaced were actually in his first 9 races. The only other unplaced was when they made him carry a ridiculous record weight in the 1931 Melbourne Cup.
I can't find all the stats on the net, (a summary is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phar_Lap) but if you take into account at one stage he won 31 of 33 races in a row (many of which were Group 1s), and also his winning margins (usually many lengths, I believe) the
statistical difference between him and all other horses is quite comparable to the difference between Bradman and all other batsmen.
Compare his record to Makybe Diva's (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makybe_Diva) and you will see that
statistically there is no comparison.