The National Museum of Australia has found missing pieces from the heart of the iconic Thoroughbred Phar Lap. The pieces of Phar Lap’s heart had been missing for more than 80 years.

A report by ABC.net, Australia’s public broadcaster, explains that Phar Lap’s heart, which has been described as ‘astonishingly large,’ had been removed and preserved in fluid after his suspicious death in California in 1932.

The article states that a 2008 investigation reached the conclusion that the revered Thoroughbred had passed away ‘after a massive dose of arsenic,’ but the report states that it is still not known how the runner came to consume it.

Phar Lap’s trainer, Harry Telford, had donated the heart to the Institute of Anatomy after it had been tested at the University of Sydney. The heart had been on display alongside regular-sized horse hearts and a human heart at the Canberra’s Musuem of Applied Anatomy until the mid 1980s.

The National Museum of Australia’s senior curator, Dr. Martha Sear, has been quoted as saying that Phar Lap’s heart has a large triangular slice – the piece that had been misplaced, until now – removed. "And that's because the scientists who did the dissection were seeking to understand not only what had killed Phar Lap, but what had made Phar Lap one of the most remarkable racehorses that the world had ever seen," she said.

In regard to how the section of heart – which contains parts of the aorta, a ventricle and the pericardium – was found, the article states that a specimen jar was upended during cleaning of a vast collection of specimens. A label that featured the word ‘Lap’ directly beside a section that was torn off led to the discovery.

"We are thrilled that we've been able to find a few more parts of the most famous racehorse in history," Dr. Sear was quoted as saying.

The section of Phar Lap’s heart will be part of a new exhibition about horses at the National Museum of Australia.

(With files from the ABC.net)