Creating a sculpture of the legendary Phar Lap has given a North Shore artist a bit of stage fright.

"You feel you have the eyes of the world watching," says Greenhithe sculptor Joanne Sullivan.

She has been commissioned by the Timaru Phar Lap Trust to make the life-sized bronze statue which will depict the 17-hand horse coming to the finish of a race in full gallop, with jockey Jim Pike on his back.

He will stand on a map of New Zealand with one foot on Timaru on a plinth of marble surrounded by fountains and a path in Timaru bluestone.

It took Ms Sullivan four months to complete a 50cm wax model of the finished sculpture. It will be cast in bronze and made into a limited edition set of 18, initially selling for about $8900. She will also create a series of 100 sculptures 35cm tall that will start at about $3800.

The sale of these tabletop Phar Laps, plus the sale of metre sections of the marble plinth for $200 will help pay for the creation of the life-size sculpture, which will be placed in front of the Timaru racecourse.

Plans are to unveil it in November 2008.

Ms Sullivan spent three months immersed in research on the famous horse that won 37 of 51 races in Australia between 1929 and 1932 including the Melbourne Cup.

She read stories of how Phar Lap was forced to run while he was ill, with a split hoof, and with extra weight added to his back to even the field.

"And evidence shows he was given a dose of arsenic 35 hours before he died. He was just too good."

She says three countries have come together in the project. The Phar Lap Trust is raising money to create the statue, the Victoria Museum in Australia opened its archives for her research and one of the world's leading equine sculptors, Gwen Reardon, invited Ms Sullivan to her studio in the United States for a week to learn about enlargement techniques.

Ms Sullivan's enthusiasm and respect for the icon she is creating comes across clearly.

"He stood for so much more than a racehorse.

There was a moment of silence in all three nations when he died."

She says plans are to move back the gates of the racecourse so the sculpture will be publicly accessible.

"I think he'll become a major tourist attraction."