Triumph and tragedy, themes too often intertwined in the lore of horse racing, animate the stories of two great horses buried in the infield of the New Orleans Fair Grounds. The first, Pan Zareta, won more races than any filly or mare in history. Panzy, as she was affectionately nicknamed, defeated 1914 Kentucky Derby winner Old Rosebud and 1915 Preakness winner Rhine Maiden, and was a beloved fixture at the Fair Grounds for years. She was retired to become a broodmare but failed to produce a foal, leading to a brief return to competition. Sometime during her transportation from races in the Midwest back to New Orleans in late 1917, Panzy contracted pneumonia, and she died in her stall at the Fair Grounds on January 19, 1918.
The Times-Picayune of January 27, 1918, noted that Pan Zareta, the “Queen of the Turf,” was buried “beneath the oak trees right inside the infield near the last sixteenth pole.” The Pan Zareta Stakes has been held at the Fair Grounds annually since 1966. The legendary horse was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, in Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1972.
Education Resources
![Horse crossing the finish line at the Fair Grounds (1998.42.2.421)](https://www.hnoc.org/sites/default/files/virtual-exhib/1998.42.2.421_o2.jpg)
Horse crossing the finish line at the Fair Grounds
between 1920 and 1950
by Leon Trice, photographer
The Historic New Orleans Collection, gift of Henry Kubicki, 1998.42.2.421
![Pan Zareta (2003.0182.10)](https://www.hnoc.org/sites/default/files/virtual-exhib/2003.0182.10_o2.jpg)
Pan ZaretaFebruary 26, 1916print from gelatin dry-plate negative by John Tibule Mendes, photographerThe Historic New Orleans Collection, gift of Waldemar S. Nelson, 2003.0182.10
![Resting place of Pan Zareta (2003.0182.81)](https://www.hnoc.org/sites/default/files/virtual-exhib/2003.0182.81_o2.jpg)
Resting place of Pan Zareta
January 27, 1918; print from gelatin dry-plate negative
by John Tibule Mendes, photographer
The Historic New Orleans Collection, gift of Waldemar S. Nelson, 2003.0182.81