Phar Lap

Geoff Armstrong's passion for racing dates back to the early sixties, when his grandfather taught him to read using a Saturday from guide while recounting tales of Phar Lap and other champions of the turf. Armstrong is the author of the official centenary book of cricket's Sheffield Shield, A Century of Summers, and co-author of the first history of Australia's involvement in international one-day cricket, The People's Game. He compiled and edited The Greatest Game, an anthology on Australian rugby league, and was co-author, with Mike Whitney, of Whiticisms. He has also worked with Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh on each of Waugh's seven best-selling books Peter Thompson's fascination with racing began when his grandmother backed Piping Lane at 40-1 to win the 1972 Melbourne Cup. As a commentator on sporting issues, his opinions have been read in The Age, The Financial Review and Business Review Weekly, and heard as those of 'Thommo from the Track' on Melbourne radio's 3AW. As an owner of several slow horses, he has often been heard to invoke the chant of the hopelessly optimistic: 'Even Phar Lap ran last in his first race.'Peter Thompson is the author of 'Phar Lap', published 2002 under ISBN 9781865083469 and ISBN 1865083461.