Both were paraded through the streets and to the Port of Echuca in what, for those lucky enough to be involved, will be a cherished memory because at the weekend, following decades of unstinting, enriching service, Subzero was euthanised after suffering heart failure.
But is that what really happened?
WHEN he died in 1932 everyone, literally, wanted a piece of Phar Lap.
And they got them.
The legendary Kiwi-bred and Aussie adored star of the turf has his mounted hide on show in the Museum of Victoria in Melbourne.
His skeleton went home to the National Museum of New Zealand in Wellington.
His heart – which all the fuss was about (the average horse heart weighs 3.2kg but Phar Lap’s was an astonishing 6.2kg) – belongs to the Australian Institute of Anatomy.
When Subzero died on Saturday, aged 32, no-one, not for a nanosecond, considered a dismemberment of the gallant grey because no horse, including the mighty Phar Lap, has given so much, for so long, to so many, as Subbie.
Phar Lap was a beacon of light for Australians during the Great Depression, but people only saw him at the track, or glimpsed him on newsreels and in fuzzy newspaper photos.
By comparison, Subzero was a beacon of delight; and of encouragement; hope, entertainment, inspiration and was accessible to hundreds of people – every day, every week, for years.
Phar Lap was an icon of the track.
He won so many major races there isn’t room to list them here but they included two WS Cox Plates, the AJC and Victoria derbies, the 1930 Melbourne Cup and, in 1932, in his only North American appearance, the Agua Caliente Handicap (a $US100,000 race; the Melbourne Cup purse the same year was 7150 pounds).
Subzero would only win three races in his 31-race career. In 1991 in Adelaide the SA Derby and Adelaide Cup. In 1992 his third and last win just happened to be the Melbourne Cup.
But he transcended racing; became the most loved horse of his generation and, in partnership with best pal Graham Salisbury, was a regular at aged care homes, schools, hospitals, anywhere anyone needing a boost, needing a smile on their face, could be found.
Subzero’s first post-racing performance was as Salisbury’s ride in his role as clerk of the course, beginning a friendship only parted by death. When they both retired from that, Salisbury continued as Subbie’s carer and they began 20-plus years of public service, helping brighten thousands and thousands of lives.
Based out of Salisbury’s Heathcote property, Subbie and his mate toured Australia making guest appearances at every call.
In a statement at the weekend, Victoria Racing Club chair Amanda Elliott said “there can be no better example of the friendship and love between a man and horse than Graham Salisbury and Subzero”.
“Together they brought joy and happiness to so many, from racing fans of all ages to the wider general public who had never even seen Subbie race,” Ms Elliott said.
“Sadly we lost Graham a few months ago and there is no doubt in my mind that Subbie, at the ripe old age of 32, wanted to be where Graham is.”
Racing Victoria chief executive Giles Thompson agreed Subzero would be remembered for what he did both on and off the track.
“As a Melbourne Cup winner he became a household name, but it was his work in retirement that earned him legendary status,” Thompson said.
But perhaps the final words belong to Salisbury’s daughter Nicole, who was with the old grey at the end.
“I was with him and it was very peaceful,” she said.
“He died at 2.38pm. The same time dad did, on a Saturday as well. Technically, it was sudden onset [of] heart failure.”
Or maybe the much-loved horse’s giving heart was - pure and simple - broken.
Unable to be parted from the man who had been his closest friend for most of his life Subbie chose to finally, irrevocably, retire.
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