Theodore Shapiro, owned Evil's Pic, dies at 84

Theodore Shapiro, a horse owner and breeder, died on Christmas Day at his home in Port Washington, N.Y. after a long illness. He was 84.

Shapiro raced horses in New York with trainer Howie Tesher. Among the best horses he owned was Evil’s Pic, a seven-time stakes winner who earned $437,877. When owned by Shapiro and trained by Tesher, Evil’s Pic won the Grade 3 Interborough Handicap, Ruthless and Dearly Precious stakes. She then raced in Southern California and won a minor stakes for trainer Bill Shoemaker.

Along with music composer Burt Bacharach, Shapiro bred the Grade 2 stakes winner Miss Pickums, who raced for Jay Em Ess Stable and was trained by Paul McGee.

Shapiro, who played polo with Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens, served in the U.S. Navy in Korea as a frogman.

Shapiro is survived by his wife, Judith, daughters Kathy and Hilary, and son John, seven grandchildren, and a number of nieces and nephews.

A funeral service will be held Sunday at the Riverside Nassau North Chapel in Great Neck, N.Y. at 10 a.m.