Equine Passion Part V

Article 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.

Sidebar Two: A Racing Dynasty
Missed the beginning? Start here.

Jewish Marylanders have long been involved in horse racing, but only one family can claim a racing dynasty. The Schapiro family of Baltimore and Monkton has been involved in racing for 65 years, through three generations, as owners, breeders, and riders.

Morris Schapiro, the leading scrap metal tycoon of Baltimore, was the first of his family to get involved. In 1939 he invested in a Florida racetrack, an experience that “got my interest in racing. I bought up stock in the Maryland Jockey Club. I didn’t go out looking for it, but I was the only one buying…The club got into a jam and ended up selling me the Laurel racetrack, which I bought for fun and profits – fun first, profits second.” Just before he bought Laurel, Morris Schapiro arranged to sell the Pimlico Race Course to Ben and Herman Cohen.

Shortly after buying the Laurel Race Course in 1950, Morris named his son John David Schapiro as president of the track. Although John Schapiro was relatively young and inexperienced he quickly took charge, invested millions in track improvements and, just two years later, established the first important international thoroughbred race, the Washington D.C. International.

In 1952 no one could imagine an international race, let alone one that would bring together the best horses from each country. But John Schapiro saw that jet planes made it possible to transport horses quickly and safely from one continent to another. By establishing a quarantine station at Laurel he enabled trainers to work out their horses for a week before the International was run. And for several years Mr. Schapiro subsidized travel costs in order to build up the field for what became the model for later international races at tracks around the globe.

The International drew the attention of leading sportswriters. Among the dignitaries who attended the International were Sir Winston Churchill and Queen Elizabeth II. And John Schapiro himself was received, and received well, by the royalty of racing around the world. The Washington D.C. International was run from 1952 through 1985. In 1961 Sports Illustrated named John Schapiro “Man of the Year in Thoroughbred Racing.”

John Schapiro’s step-son, Joseph Davies Gillett, became the third generation of the family to take a leading role in Maryland racing. Joe Gillett (now known as Joe G. Davies) is an outstanding jockey who has competed in steeplechase races in Russia, England, Ireland, and France, as well as the U.S. Joe is widely known as a two-time winner of the Maryland Hunt Cup, the premier American steeplechase race that is run each year over a four-mile course in Glyndon, MD.

~The End~