The skeleton of Phar Lap, stored at the New Zealand National Museum in Wellington. ''Phar Lap's heart is one of the great national treasures of our museum and one of the most popular exhibits at Melbourne Museum is their Phar Lap exhibit. Then we thought, well, the skeleton's over in New Zealand. Why not link them all up?'' he said. Phar Lap had won the Melbourne Cup, two Cox Plates and the AJC Derby before his shock death in 1932, after which his body was split up and donated to separate museums. His skeleton was stored at the New Zealand National Museum in Wellington, the heart at the Institute of Anatomy in Canberra and his skin was stuffed and mounted in the Melbourne Museum. All three body parts were supposed to be reunited in 2010, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Melbourne Cup, but the museum was unable to move the heart.

Jockey Jim Pike and Phar Lap in full flight. ''We had international expert advice that said the heart was too fragile to be transported and pieces might fall off it,'' said Mr Bunzli. ''So unfortunately the National Museum declined to be part of it.'' ''I suppose this is also a little bit of us making up for that lost opportunity by doing it digitally,'' he said. Using the museum's new virtual tour technology, carried inside a giant robotic chess piece called 'Chester', Mr Bunzli will take students on a tour of the museum's Melbourne Cup memorabilia. Phar Lap's heart, stored at the Institute of Anatomy in Canberra. Credit:National Museum Of Australia Between seven and ten different schools will be dialling into the event, including two schools from New Zealand. Students can ask questions and click on objects that interest them for more information.

Online viewers will also get a special viewing of the museum's collection of antique Melbourne Cups, including the newly unveiled 1866 trophy. Curator Stephen Munro, who will speaking about the trophies on the interactive tour, said he was glad the museum could be part of such an important Australian event. "The Melbourne Cup is the nation's best known and most iconic sporting event, and as such is a key area of focus for the National Museum of Australia,'' he said. This is the first specialised virtual tour the museum has done and, if it goes well, it could be the start of a new trend. 'We're ramping this up, we want to do lots of these. We have connections with a lot of museums who want to take part,'' said Mr Bunzli.