Equine Passion: Part III

generations 2004 copyArticle by Robin Z. Waldman. Originally published in Generations – 2004: Recreation, Sports & Leisure. This particular issue of Generations proved wildly popular and is no longer available for purchase.

Part III: Into the Home Stretch
Missed the beginning? Start here.

Other members of the Cohen family were also involved in Pimlico and horseracing. As vice-president and director Nathan Cohen, Herman’s only child, oversaw the practical details of running Pimlico for many years.[1] When Nathan became ill in the 1980s Ben and Herman agreed to sell the racetrack. Politics in Maryland horseracing were making it difficult to operate the track, public attitudes toward racing and gambling were changing, interest in spending a day at the races was declining, and there was nobody in the family who was interested in stepping into the daily management of the enterprise. In 1986 Ben and Herman sold their beloved racetrack.

With their great success, throughout their lives the Cohens were meticulous in their generosity to the community. Shortly before selling Pimlico they donated a $1 million Tiffany window to the Baltimore Museum of Art, a piece they had owned since their days of store liquidations. It had been stored for years under the grandstand at the racetrack. Both Ben and Herman were major contributors to THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore; Herman was an honored member of Chizuk Amuno Congregation, and Ben was an honorary trustee of Temple Oheb Shalom. Though they gave very generously they did so with no need for recognition. Ben once commented, “Fact of the matter is, I think I contributed as much to the temple as anyone. Most of them put their name on this or that. But I never even bothered. Why? I’m not interested…”[2] Quietly Ben had also once loaned $100,000 to Golda Meir, interest-free, to fund the new State of Israel when she came to Baltimore to meet with a few members of the Phoenix Club.[3] His commitments were numerous and often unheralded.

Herman Cohen died in 1990 and Ben Cohen passed away in 1994. He had been married to Zelda for 66 years. She lived until 2003 when she died at the age of 99. Together their passion for horses enhanced Baltimore’s spot in racing’s history and legacy.

This poem and caricature of Ben Cohen was presented to him by Bill Koras on the occasion of his 85th birthday. Gift of Zelda Cohen, JMM 1994.100.3.
This poem and caricature of Ben Cohen was presented to him by Bill Koras on the occasion of his 85th birthday. Gift of Zelda Cohen, JMM 1994.100.3.

A fitting tribute to Ben Cohen’s passion and dedication to the sport of horseracing was voiced by Chick Lang, who had worked for the Cohens at Pimlico for 27 years. The occasion was the 1991 Maryland Million race, in which Ben Cohen had entered a two-year-old horse named Coolin It who would become the day’s big winner. Jokes about a 91-year-old and his two-year-old winner abounded, but Lang, filled with admiration, declared: “It gives you a good feeling to see Ben have success like this, at his age, especially when you consider his contributions to Maryland racing…if anyone had done more for Maryland racing than Ben Cohen, I haven’t met him.”[4]

This dedication to the sport is acknowledged at Pimlico by the running of the Ben Cohen Stakes. In recent years Ben’s great-grandchildren have presented the winner’s prize in the memorial race.

Speaking once before state lawmakers while trying to get approval for a new piece of racing legislation, Ben Cohen commented, “Gentlemen, I’m a four-time loser: I breed horses, own horses, own a racetrack and bet horses. I have no chance to make it in this game…And, by the way, if I didn’t have to leave the track to come here to talk to you, I would have had the Triple in the last race.”[5]

Ben Cohen was a multi-millionaire, a talented businessman, a quiet philanthropist, a dedicated family man – and, at heart, a fellow who loved the races.

Continue to Sidebar One: The Preakness at Pimlico

[1] Acton, “Preakness,” p. 22.

[2] Siegel, “Pimlico’s Cohen Brothers,” p. 42.

[3] Oral history of Ben Cohen, p. 21.

[4] Bill Tanton, “Ben Cohen still Coolin It at 91,” Maryland Horse, November 1991, pp. 34-35.

[5] David Micahel Ettlin, “Ben Cohen dies, co-owned Pimlico,” The Baltimore Sun, March 23, 1994, p. 5B.

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