They called her the Denton Mare, a two-year-old gray named Jennie that had been bred in north Texas. Sam Bass saw that she was speedy and bought her. He hired a skinny black jockey and entered her in races across Texas.
And the team won—a lot. And the Denton Mare became one of the best known racers in the Southwest. But it came to an end around 1876. Did Bass sell her, or lose her to a bet, or use her to pay off debts? Nobody knows what happened to Jennie. Bass, of course, became a noted outlaw.