Billy Eliot, Phar Lap's jockey at Agua Caliente had been devastated by Phar Lap's mysterious death, gave his saddle to George Woolf as a gesture of friendship. Woolf went on to become one of America's greatest riders, using the saddle on his favourite mount, Pur sang: la légende de Seabiscuit (2003), who, like Phar Lap, captivated a nation in the midst of the depression. The saddle was Woolf's lucky charm. From that date on until the time of his death he used it. Coincidentally, the only time he did not use it, from the time when Elliot gifted it to Woolf, was in his last race which he, unfortunately, was killed in.
Tommy Woodcock went on to become a horse trainer. One of his greatest success was Reckless, a horse which won the Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane Cups and finished second in the Melbourne Cup in 1977. Tommy was respected for his training methods and his great love for horses. Tommy and his wife, Emma, had no children but their home was always open to the apprentices that Tommy trained. Tommy Woodcock trained horses until he was 78. He donated several of his personal mementoes of Phar Lap to the Museum of Victoria to go with the Museum's exhibit of Phar Lap's hide.
After Phar Lap's death, his stuffed hide was donated to the Melbourne Museum (where it is one of the main attractions), his skeleton to Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and his heart to the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. His heart was remarkable for its size, weighing 6.2 kg, compared with an average horse's heart weight of 3.2 kg.
Tommy Woodcock himself actually appears in the film, portraying a horse trainer.
The name "Phar Lap" is Thai for lightning.
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