Peter Pan III - Racing Career

Racing Career

Conditioned by future Hall of Fame trainer Frank McGrath, Sr., Peter Pan raced early in the 1930s during the Great Depression and with Phar Lap, Chatham and Rogilla, all household names at the time. Frank McGrath, Sr. and some others considered Peter Pan to possibly be a better horse than Phar Lap.

Peter Pan was famous for winning the Melbourne Cup twice, in 1932 and 1934. In the running of the 1932 Melbourne Cup, Peter Pan, carrying Billy Duncan, was travelling at the rear of the pack when he clipped the heels of the horse in front and fell to his knees. Running behind him was his stablemate Dennis Boy, who bumped the champion back onto his feet. From there, Peter Pan raced past the pack to take out the race by a neck. When he was led into the winner's circle, a grass stain was clearly visible on his face. In 1933, Peter Pan fought a near-fatal viral disease that swept Sydney's racing stables and did not contest the Melbourne Cup. Frank McGrath Snr. personally nursed the horse back to health. Peter Pan won his 1934 Melbourne Cup carrying Darby Munro at 9 st 10 lb on his back and from an outside draw on a heavy track, hence his long odds of 14/1. In 1932, he also won the VRC Derby and the MacKinnon Stakes.

To win two Melbourne Cups is a rare feat, and this with his fine record gained him a place in the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. In 1935, Peter Pan suffered a recurrence of the illness that nearly killed him in 1933. Once again, Frank McGrath Snr. nursed him back to health but the horse was not his old self. Out of loyalty to the enormous public following that Peter Pan had gained, Rodney R. Dangar and McGrath agreed to start Peter Pan in the 1935 Melbourne Cup. The horse carried 10 st 5 lb (the weight carried by Carbine to win the 1890 Melbourne Cup) but finished 13th. He was immediately retired to stud.