Phar Lap’s victory was in the 1930 Melbourne Cup. He was the shortest priced favourite in the race's history and this made him a household name. Racing was the first sport covered live by radio in Australia, from about 1927. Previously racing had a name for being the sport of the 'filthy rich and the untidy poor'. With radio, Phar Lap's success could be followed by anyone without the need to set foot on a racecourse.

The Melbourne Museum has been the home of Phar Lap, since his mounted hide first went on permanent display in January 1933. He immediately became one of the museum's most popular exhibits and has continued to draw the interest of visitors over the decades since, becoming one of the most significant historical icons in any Australian museum.

Phar Lap's heart is one of the National Museum of Australia’s most iconic collection items. It weighs 6.35 kilograms – a staggering 1.5 times the average weight of a thoroughbred racehorse heart.

Phar Lap’s skeleton is cared for by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Museum in Wellington, New Zealand. The distribution of Phar Lap’s remains reflects the claims on him by both Australia and New Zealand. He was born in New Zealand and was then trained and raced in Australia.

The boxing kangaroo is a national symbol of Australia and frequently displayed on a flag at sporting events. Images of the boxing kangaroo have been in circulation since the late 19th century when outback travelling shows often featured kangaroos wearing boxing gloves fighting against men.

In 1983 the boxing kangaroo received national and international prominence when a flag bearing a red-gloved golden kangaroo against a green background became the symbol of Australia’s win of the America’s Cup.

The sport of trugo was invented in the 1920s by railway repairs workers in Newport, in the western suburbs of Melbourne. Trugo is played outside on a grassed pitch similar to that of lawn bowls. The aim is to score goals by striking a rubber ring with a mallet through goal posts, backwards and between your legs. The pitch is the length of a train carriage, the goals the same distance as between carriage seats, the original mallets were rail workers sledgehammers, and the rubber rings were insides of railway buffers.

Essendon and Carlton are the teams that have won the most AFL premiership with 16 wins each closely followed by Collingwood who has won 15 grand finals and the Hawks on 13.

Cricket balls for the blind are made of plaited strips of willow, wound together and bound with wire in two places and is lighter than a conventional cricket ball. The hollow centre of the ball contains metal pieces which rattle as the ball is moved to aid players in tracking the ball's movement.

Blind cricket was invented in Melbourne in 1922 when two blind factory workers started playing a game using a tin can containing rocks. Blind cricket is now played internationally.

The iconic terracotta ashes urn is said to contain a burnt cricket ball.