| BIOGRAPHY |
She was knifed, shot at, kidnapped, trampled, for a time paralyzed from the waist down, spent a week in a coma, had a miscarriage, punctured lung, blood clots on the brain. This all happened before she had what would be a career ending spill at Golden Gate Fields, in 1982 that almost took her life.
Mary Bacon endured broken collarbones, ribs, hands, feet and back. It would probably be easier to list the tracks, she didn't ride at rather than the ones she did. She graced the pages of Playboy and Vogue and may have had a hand in bringing down a racetrack.
The lady known for some tall tales, was injured in the starting gate at old Cahokia Downs, she claimed the track was negligent and won a three million dollar settlement, but never got paid when the track decided to file for bankruptcy. During her colorful career she raced in a harness race and rode for a time in Japan.
Her promising career was severely hampered when she made a speech at a Ku Klux Klan rally in 1975. After that she would have trouble finding mounts, having to ride quarter horses at Los Alamitos after her mounts at Hollywood Park were conveniently scratched.
Mary Bacon, crossed the finish line on June 7, 1991 of a self inflicted gunshot wound at a Fort Worth, Texas motel. Six days after her death her ashes were spread on the grave of another tragic filly, Ruffian, uniting the two for eternity.
| SCRAPBOOK | ||