Pan Zareta, the greatest filly in horse racing history, was a safe bet if you bet her to win. The New York Timeslabelled her the “Queen of the Turf” and others dubbed her “Texas Whirlwind” and “Panzy.”

 In the course of six years, in 151 races in three countries, Pan Zareta finished either first, second, or third 128 times. Seventy-six of those were first-place finishes.

We mention her here because Pan Zareta was foaled in Texas in 1910 by breeders J.F. and H.S. Newman in Sweetwater. Sired by Abe Frank by dame Caddi Griffith, she has taken her place in history alongside other legendary Texas horses like Steel Dust, progenitor of the modern quarter horse, and Assault, the crippled King Ranch stallion that won horse racing’s Triple Crown in 1946.  

Pan Zareta was named for the daughter of the former mayor of Juarez, Pansy Zareta, whose father was a Newman family friend. The Newmans reportedly delivered a fine thoroughbred stallion to Pancho Villa in return for protection of their racing interest. Villa allegedly rode his gift horse into battle during the revolution.

The playful, friendly chestnut filly’s first race was in Juarez in January of 1912, during the Mexican Revolution.

Pan Zareta won that first race and 13 of her first 19, including 10 in a row. The reason we don’t hear more of her today is because horse racing was outlawed over most of the country for most of her career. Had the stakes been higher, the high-spirited filly might have made the Newmans wealthy. Instead, her winnings only averaged about $300 per race. 

Betting on the ponies remained illegal in Texas until 1933 and was banned again in 1937, this time for 50 years. (It’s legal and highly regulated today.)  Pan Zareta took her act on the road, racing in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, winning more often than not. She won 46 of 100 handicap races, an astonishing number that still hasn’t been equaled.

In a handicap race, each horse is assigned a handicap in the form of a specified amount of weight the horse must carry. The handicap is based on the horse’s ability. Pan Zareta carried more than 131 pounds in 14 handicap races and won more than she lost.

In July of 1917, she carried 140 pounds at Empire City Race Track in New York. The New York Times wrote of the feat: “In one respect, the latest achievement of the aged daughter of Abe Frank was unique, as she carried the crushing impost of 140 pounds, which so far as veterans of the turf are aware has never been done successfully by any other mare.” 

That wasn’t even the most weight she carried in a winning effort. Earlier in her career she carried 146 pounds, 46 more than her opponent. 

In her best-known race, against the highly regarded thoroughbred stallion Joe Blair, she carried ten pounds more than her rival and won with a world record time of 57 ½ seconds over five furlongs. The record stood for 35 years. The Queen of the Turf’s last victory came on Oct. 26, 1917, at the Latonia Race Track in Kentucky.

Pan Zareta died of pneumonia in 1918 while in training at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, the site of many of her victories. According to the New Orleans Times Picayune, she was “buried beneath a giant live oak…just inside the inner rail at the sixteenth post.” 

Pan Zareta is in the Fair Ground’s Racing Hall of Fame in New Orleans, the National Museum Racing’s Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York and in the Texas Race Horse Hall of Fame at Retama Park in San Antonio. To further honor her, the Fair Ground course established the Pan Zareta Sweepstakes in 1966. This year’s races are scheduled for Nov. 28, 2026.