Ethel V. Mars#Milky Way Farm Stable
{{Short description|American racehorse owner (1884–1945)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name = Ethel Veronica Healy
| birth_date = {{Birth-date|1884}}
| birth_place = Petersburg, North Dakota, US
| death_date = {{Death-date and age|December 25, 1945|1884}}
| death_place = La Jolla, California, US
| death_cause =
| resting_place = Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, Minnesota, US
| education =
| occupation = Businessperson
| known_for = Milky Way Farm
Gallahadion
| party =
| family = Mars family
}}
Ethel Veronica Mars (née Healy; June 1884 – December 25, 1945) was an American businesswoman and racehorse owner. She was Ethel Veronica Healy prior to her marriage in 1910 to Franklin Clarence Mars, the founder of the candy company Mars Inc.
In 1930, she and her husband purchased a 2,800 acre property in Giles County, Tennessee, where they built Milky Way Farm. There, they raised Hereford cattle as well as bred Thoroughbred racehorses which were trained on a racetrack built on the property.
Early life
Ethel Veronica Kruppenbacher{{Contradictory inline|date=April 2025|reason=The lead and infobox state her last name as Healy.}} was born in June 25, 1884, in Petersburg, North Dakota.
Milky Way Farm Stable
{{Further|Milky Way Farm}}
The Thoroughbred racing stable of Ethel and Franklin Mars began competing at major eastern United States racetracks in 1934 and following her husband's death that year, Ethel Mars took charge of all operations. Wanting to expand her racing and develop her bloodstock, from 1935 through 1942 she was a major spender for well-bred yearlings at the Saratoga spring sales.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=t_EuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1tsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1765,3320123&dq=ethel-mars+saratoga+sale&hl=en Ottawa Citizen - August 17, 1938][https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cesiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-3MFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5679,2349730&dq=ethel-mars&hl=en The New London Day (Connecticut) - July 30, 1942]
In 1936, her Milky Way Farm stable's race winnings totaled $206,450, making the Milky Way Farm stable the year's most successful owner on the United States thoroughbred racing circuit.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120125033852/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,762342,00.html "Sport: Luck and Mrs. Mars"], Time, January 4, 1937. In 1935, her filly Forever Yours, trained by Robert V. McGarvey was voted American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly. In 1937, her filly Mars Shield won the Kentucky Oaks. Then on May 4, 1940, Ethel Mars had her greatest single achievement in racing with her colt Gallahadion. Trained by Roy Waldron and ridden by Carroll Bierman, Gallahadion won the Kentucky Derby.{{Cite web |url=http://static.kentuckyderby.com/sites/kentuckyderby.com/files/charts/1940.pdf |title=Churchill Downs Inc. - 1940 Kentucky Derby charts |access-date=May 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604012833/http://static.kentuckyderby.com/sites/kentuckyderby.com/files/charts/1940.pdf |archive-date=June 4, 2013 |url-status=dead }}
Declining health in the years following her Kentucky Derby win saw Ethel Mars wind down her racing and operations.[https://archive.today/20120718144945/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SopJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EAwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1269,4445359&dq=ethel-mars+milky+way+farm&hl=en The Charleston, South Carolina News and Courier - July 16, 1943] A resident of River Forest, Illinois, Ethel Mars died at age sixty-one on Christmas Day 1945 in La Jolla, California, where she had been visiting.[https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/1684636322.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Dec+26%2C+1945&author=&pub=The+Sun+(1837-1985)&desc=Mrs.+Ethel+Mars%2C+Milky+Way+Farm%27s+Owner%2C+Dies+On+Coast&pqatl=google Baltimore Sun - December 26, 1945]{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306191648/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/doc/539815108.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Dec%2026,%201945&author=&pub=The%20Sun%20(1837-1985)&edition=&startpage=&desc=Mrs.%20Ethel%20Mars,%20Milky%20Way%20Farm%27s%20Owner,%20Dies%20On%20Coast |archive-date=4 March 2016}}
References
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Category:American racehorse owners and breeders
Category:20th-century American businesspeople
Category:20th-century American businesswomen
Category:Businesspeople in confectionery