Career
There, they raised Hereford cattle as well as bred Thoroughbred racehorses which were trained on a racetrack built on the property. The 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.
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.
In 1935, her filly Forever Yours, trained by Robert McGarvey was voted American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly. A resident of River Forest, Illinois, Ethel Mars died at age sixty-one on Christmas Day 1945 in Louisiana Jolla, California where she had been visiting.