Phar Lap was resting at a private ranch near Menlo Park in California while his owner, Davis, negotiated further race appearances and even a series of films about Phar Lap.
Early on 5 April 1932, Woodcock found the horse looking ill. His temperature was above normal and he was in great pain. At midday Phar Lap hemorrhaged and died.
Woodcock threw himself on the horse and cried.
Australians and Americans were stunned by the horse's death. The Australian Prime Minister, Joseph Lyons called it a 'great tragedy'. An autopsy found that Phar Lap's stomach and intestines were inflamed, suggesting possible poisoning.
Soon rumours were circulating that the champion had been deliberately poisoned.
Investigation of the ranch showed that some trees had recently been sprayed with a lead - arsenate insecticide. It was possible that some of the deadly spray had drifted onto grass that Phar Lap had eaten. A second autopsy suggested that Phar Lap had died of a 'colicky condition' (bad stomach pains), possibly from eating damp feed.
Many people, however, continued to believe that Phar Lap had been poisoned.
In 1989 some racing people claimed that Tom Woodcock had accidentally killed the horse by giving him a double dose of Fowler's Solution, a tonic containing arsenic given to horses to stimulate their appetites.
Forensic scientists offered to test Phar Lap's hide and hair for arsenic, but as arsenic was probably used to help preserve the hide, the tests might not have brought us any closer to discovering the real cause of his death.
However a recent book suggests that Phar Lap was not mysteriously poisoned. Authors Peter Thompson and Geoff Armstrong asked University of Melbourne equine experts to examine the two autopsy reports. They concluded that Phar Lap probably died of a bacterial infection often found in horses who have traveled long distances. This type of infection was not identified until recent decades, so would not have been diagnosed at the time.
But the truth is we have no way of knowing for sure....
Farewell, Bobby, Farewell....
We know you're with the good Lord now romping and racing as you did on earth....
Farewell, Bobby, Farewell...
We will never forget you....