Pan Zareta
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| Pan Zareta | ||
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| Sire: | Abe Frank | |
| Dam: | Caddie Griffith | |
| Damsire: | Rancocas | |
| Sex: | Mare | |
| Foaled: | 1910 | |
| Country: | USA | |
| Colour: | Chestnut | |
| Breeder: | J. F. Newman | |
| Owner: | J. Marrone | |
| Trainer: | Many; H.S. Newman, E. Foucon, & E.T. Colton often mentioned. | |
| Record: | 151: 76-31-21 | |
| Earnings: | $39,082 | |
| Major Racing Wins & Honours & Awards | ||
| Major Racing Wins | ||
| Senoritas Stakes Rio Grande Stakes Chihuahua Stakes Chapultepec Handicap Juarez Handicap Katonah Handicap |
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| Honours | ||
| United States Racing Hall of Fame (1972) Pan Zareta Handicap at the Fair Grounds Race Course |
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Infobox last updated on: October 5, 2006. |
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Pan Zareta, an American thoroughbred racehorse, ran in any race of 6 furlongs, at any time, anywhere, for any purse.
Before Ruffian and Twilight Tear, Pan Zareta was as good as they come. A chestnut mare born in 1910, racing at small out-of-the way tracks meant her purses were small—on average less than $300—yet she racked up a goodly sum during her dominant career as she raced from Mexico to Canada, as well as in eight US states. The largest purse she ever earned amounted to $1,050, she never won a significant race, and only once beat a top-level horse, yet she was still called "Queen of the Turf."
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[edit] Missed Brilliance
Owned by J. Marrone (until E.T. Colton bought her for $10,000 at the age of seven when her owners faced financial problems), and bred by J. F. Newman, she was born in Sweetwater, Texas, her lineage tracing back to Hanover and Hindoo on her multiple stakes-winning sire's side (Abe Frank), and to Leamington on her dam's side (Caddie Griffith). It was Pan Zareta's third dam on her mother's side that proved a bit of a problem, a certain 1869 Texas born Mittie Stephens. Mittie was listed in the American Stud Book as a non-thoroughbred. Even today Mittie's sire, Shiloh Jr., seems to have come from nowhere. (See Panzy's pedigree in References.) Still, due to some complexities (loopholes? common sense?) in the rulings, Pan Zareta was considered a thoroughbred...yet remained suspect as a horse of "quality." Her connections certainly had no great expectations for her and kept her racing on a very unusual circuit for a great mare: small tracks for small purses.
Neither Pan Zareta's dam, Caddie Griffith, nor Pan Zareta herself appear in the American Stud Book.
Affectionately known as "Panzy" (she was named for Panzy Zareta, the daughter of the once mayor of Juarez, Mexico), she traveled the country, appearing virtually anywhere, constantly competing against males, ridden by anyone handy and trained by an assortment of available conditioners, since she seemed not to care about such trivialities. H.S. Newman, E. Foucon, and E.T. Colton are most frequently credited as trainers. She ran an astounding 151 races and won 76 of them. No mare in US racing history has ever won, or even started in, so many races. She also placed 31 times and came in third 21 times. Considering the size of the purses which averaged $300, her career earnings of $39,082 was a very respectable sum. On 24 different tracks, she also always carried higher weights than any of her rivals, males as well as females, often up to 140 pounds...once even an unheard of 146 pounds, giving away 46 pounds to the runner up. She carried 126 pounds or more 48 times, 21 of those times when she won. Pan Zareta finished in the top three 128 times, which means she was in the money in 85 percent of her starts.
In time, Pan Zareta became the public's darling.
[edit] If no one else, Panzy knew
Panzy was smart and she was serene. Unlike the other horses, she watched the starter, and when he said, "Go!", she was gone. And even though she was a sprinter at heart, she could be rated. She came from behind in many of her races.
Her most important wins, considering those she was entered in, were the Senoritas Stakes, the Rio Grande Stakes, the Chihuahua Stakes, the Chapultepec Handicap, the Juarez Handicap, and the Katonah Handicap. In 1914, against all the odds and against all the classy runners running in classy races, Pan Zareta was the Champion Older Female.
At the age of five on February 10, 1915, she set the world record for five furlongs at Juarez that went unbeaten for 31 years. She was up against Joe Blair who carried ten pounds less than she did, and she was left at the post. Joe Blair set furlong splits of :21 3/5, :33 2/5, and :44 4/5, which is very very fast, but Panzy caught him at the eighth pole and drew off to win by two lengths. Her victory also lowered the track record by a full second, establishing a new World record of :57 1/5. Pan Zareta equaled or set eleven track records, including a few in New York when her new owner entered her in slightly more prestigious races.
In 1917, Old Rosebud who'd won the 1914 Kentucky Derby was running at Oaklawn Park. So was Panzy. These two great horses met on March 24 when Pan Zareta beat a horse called Colonel Vennie. Old Rosebud finished third. When they met a second time on April 6, Old Rosebud won and Panzy came in third.
There's little doubt that if her people had imaged greater things for her, she would have been just as amazing. But no one will ever know.
[edit] To die on Christmas Day
Panzy retired in 1918, but failed to conceive a foal. Back to the races, of course. While in training in 1918 at only eight years of age, Pan Zareta contracted pneumonia and died on Christmas day in her stall at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans. Panzy was buried in the infield of the Fair Grounds next to Kentucky Derby winner Black Gold, the son of U-See-it, a good racing mare who could never beat Pan Zareta.
In 1972, Pan Zareta was elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Panzy has a sprint race run in her name, the Pan Zareta Handicap, run at the Fair Grounds each year.
