Phar Lap

Phar Lap tells the story of the New Zealand-bred chestnut racehorse who became a national hero in Australia during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Bought cheaply by trainer Harry Telford, the horse shows little promise at first and loses his early races. Telford's faith in him holds, however, and the devoted stablehand Tommy Woodcock gives him patient, affectionate care. With that attention and hard training, Phar Lap begins to win, eventually competing against the best horses in the world while resentment builds in a sport marked by corruption and betting interests.

Directed by Simon Wincer, the film was released in 1983 and followed his 1979 debut Snapshot, coming second among the thirteen features he has directed. David Williamson wrote the screenplay, and John Sexton produced. Tom Burlinson plays Tommy Woodcock, with Martin Vaughan as Harry Telford, Judy Morris as Bea Davis, Richard Morgan as 'Cashy' Martin, Celia De Burgh as Vi Telford and Ron Leibman as the horse's promoter, Dave Davis.

On IMDb the film holds a rating of 7.2 from around 2,100 votes, while on TMDB it rates 6.9 from a much smaller number of votes. A critics' rating of 6.4 from eight reviews places it somewhat below the audience scores. Its worldwide box office came to about 3 million dollars.