10 PHAR LAP THE LEGEND LIVES ON The Rider and the Strapper Jim Pike was one of Australia's finest jockeys and the man most associated with Phar Lap in the saddle. Their partnership, a combination of raw power and Pike’s rare ability to let a great horse run its own race, produced 26 victories, including the 1930 Melbourne Cup. But no relationship defined Phar Lap's life like the one he shared with his strapper, Tommy Woodcock. Affectionately known as "Bobby" to those closest to him, Phar Lap shared an inseparable bond with Woodcock. They travelled together, they trained together, and Woodcock slept close by on race eve. He knew the horse's moods, movements and habits better than anyone alive. Woodcock was there the morning Phar Lap was shot at just days before the 1930 Melbourne Cup. He accompanied him to Mexico for the Agua Caliente Handicap. And he was present in California on 5 April 1932 when the champion took his last breath. What Tommy Woodcock and Phar Lap shared was not easily named. It was simply one of the closest bonds in Australian sporting history. Phar Lap and Tommy Woodcock, c. 1930s. Photo: Australian Racing Museum Collection Phar Lap, Billy Elliot and Tommy Woodcock, Agua Caliente 1932. Photo: VRC Collection Painting of Phar Lap with Jim Pike aboard. By Richard Stone Reeves (1984) Finish of the 1930 Melbourne Cup
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