Page 93 - November 2021

“The followers of the sport of kings will be free from police interference or the criticism of moralists and may bet their
heads off without any danger of forming an acquaintance with the minions of the law.”
other boys, but after I started to win some races, they started to fear me a little.” Even the city itself had an air of wildness about it; Juarez, one writer later declared, was, “a town where games of chance spun round the clock.”
In spite of these factors (or, perhaps, because of them) a list of future greats made the pilgrimage to the racetrack. Johnny Loftus– a Hall of Famer who would later pilot both Sir Barton and Man O’ War– achieved notable success at Terrazas by riding a brilliant filly named Pan Zareta. A swift sprinter who would also be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, Pan Zareta earned a permanent place in racing lore by carrying Loftus to a win despite lugging
a 146-pound impost. Auspiciously, the track also attracted Marshall Cassidy, America’s most prominent starter. Universally known
as “Mars,” the man apparently shared several qualities with the fabled Roman god of war. “Mars,” sportswriter Red Smith would later confide, “was distinguished by a high bowler hat, handlebar mustaches, a temper that boiled at 98.6 degrees and a vocabulary that would bring blushes to the foredeck of a Portuguese freighter.” Cassidy also had a penchant for “bars and cockfights”– making him the ideal starter for the unruly new track.
Terrazas Racetrack’s glory days were fleet- ing. By 1910, many Mexican people had grown disenchanted with the country’s president, Porfirio Díaz, who had controlled the nation for a total of 31 years. Although Díaz had been instrumental in reshaping the country’s eco- nomic structure, his policies had largely favored foreign investors and the domestic upper class. Worse still, his reforms increasingly subjected most peasants to civil repression and poverty. When Díaz announced that he had won the 1910 presidential election (defeating his oppo- nent, Francisco I. Madero), a national rebellion erupted. Following Madero’s call for open revolution, a number of disorganized but pow- erful factions formed with the goal of wrest- ing Mexico from Díaz’s grasp. Led by various generals– including Pancho Villa– the groups
Pan Zareta
Sir Barton after winning a race in 1919.
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