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Early Years of the Kentucky Derby
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KENTUCKY DERBY EARLY YEARS OF THE
The Kentucky Derby: 1875-1902
The end of the American Civil War brought significant social and economic changes for African Americans. Thoroughbred racing and the early years of the Kentucky Derby continued to be dominated by Black jockeys and trainers. African Americans made up 13 of the 15 jockeys in the inaugural Derby in 1875—including the winner, Oliver Lewis, aboard Aristides—and went on to capture 15 of the first 28 runnings. Jimmy Winkfield became the most recent to do so, aboard Alan-a-Dale in 1902. The trainer of 1875 Derby winner Aristides was Ansel Williamson, a man born enslaved in Virginia who would become the most important horseman at Kentucky’s Woodburn Farm, one of the earliest landmark Thoroughbred farms in the Commonwealth. Prior to 1900, six other Black trainers would join Williamson as Derby winners.
Print, Salvator and Tenny, 1890 … Charles Zellinsky Kentucky Derby Museum Collection
*Background and Foreground
African Americans and White Jockeys in the Kentucky Derby, 1875-1910
African Americans Jockeys White Jockeys
Left
Ten Broeck and Mollie McCarthy Match Race Program …
Churchill Downs, July 4, 1878 Gift of Churchill Downs
Right
Kentucky Derby Program
Churchill Downs, May 17, 1875 Gift of Churchill Downs
*Backgrond and Foreground
Top Left
Kentucky Derby Silk Purse won by Kingman …
Churchill Downs, 1891 Gift of Churchill Downs
Bottom Middle
Ankle Boots worn by 1875 Kentucky Derby Winner Aristides …
Gift of Jessie and Betty Thornton
Top Right
Horse Blanket worn by 1887 Kentucky Derby Winner Montrose …
Gift of Churchill Downs
*Background and Foreground
Isaac Murphy
Isaac Murphy is a noted example of the success and story of the African American jockey. A 2013 book by the late Dr. Pellom McDaniels III of Emory University, titled The Prince of Jockeys, is the first scholarly biography of Murphy. In it, the author offers much new information about the champion jockey. Many writers and historians could not reach a consensus on Murphy’s parentage: some stated he was the son of enslaved parents, others claimed Murphy’s father was free, and others just avoided the issue altogether. However, McDaniels provides the most telling proof yet, via a Kentucky birth record from 1861, that Murphy was indeed born to enslaved parents who did not live on the same farm in Kentucky, a familiar story of the antebellum era. Of course, the exact birth date is muddled because birth certificates were not issued to children born enslaved.
The Civil War (1861-1865) resulted in the end of the institution of slavery when Murphy was a child, so he rose to athletic prowess in the postbellum era. He became the first jockey to win the Kentucky Derby three times (1884, 1890, and 1891) and the first rider to be inducted into Thoroughbred racing’s Hall of Fame (1955). As a result, Murphy is recognized as one of the greatest jockeys in Thoroughbred racing history, whose achievements go far beyond wins and professional accolades.
For example, when Louisville’s The Courier-Journal wrote about his death in 1896, Murphy’s nickname of “Honest Isaac” is mentioned. The nickname stemmed from Murphy’s unwillingness to take a bribe as a jockey when such corruption existed in the sport.
“Through many years the premier jockey of America, he could have made fortunes for others and lined his own pockets with thorough safety to himself,” the paper stated, “But the most unscrupulous turfman (sic) never dared approach him.”
Perhaps it was his noted skill and honesty that led to over 500 mourners coming to his and wife Lucy’s home after Isaac died at the young age of 35 in 1896.
Middle Photograph of Isaac Murphy
Top Right Cigarette Card featuring Isaac Murphy, 1890-1895 Kentucky Derby Museum Collection
Bottom Right Checkmate with Isaac Murphy up … Henry Stull Oil on Canvas Kentucky Derby Museum Collection
*Background and Foreground
Black Jockeys Who Have Won the Kentucky Derby
Oliver Lewis, a native of Fayette County, Kentucky, won the first Kentucky Derby in 1875. He never rode in another Derby. He later became a bookmaker (a legal venture at the time) and wrote detailed handicapping charts that served as precursors to those found today in publications such as the Daily Racing Form.
William Walker was born enslaved in 1860 in Woodford County, Kentucky. He won the 1877 Kentucky Derby on Baden-Baden and secured a lifetime total of four Derby mounts. However, Walker might be most well-known for his victory aboard Ten Broeck in a famed four-mile match race at Churchill Downs on July 4, 1878, against California-based mare Mollie McCarthy. In later years, he became a noted pedigree expert.
Garrett Davis Lewis, a native of Fayette County, Kentucky, has historically been misidentified as George Garrett Lewis. He rode Fonso to victory in the 1880 Derby. After the race, jockey Billy Lakeland made an unsuccessful foul claim against Lewis, the first such claim in Kentucky Derby history. About one month after this win, Lewis competed in a race in St. Louis, Missouri and suffered injuries that led to his death.
Babe Hurd, a native of Texas, won the 1882 Kentucky Derby aboard Apollo. After retiring from riding in 1885, he began training horses. Hurd died at Longridge Farm outside Lexington in 1928.
Isaac Murphy is noted by many as the greatest jockey of all-time. He was the first jockey to win the Derby on three occasions (1884, 1890 and 1891) and was part of the inaugural class of racing’s Hall of Fame in 1955.
Erskine Henderson piloted Joe Cotton to a neck victory in 1885. The horse was also trained by an African American, Abe Perry. It is reported that Henderson later became a trainer. Isaac Lewis rode in four consecutive Derbys, 1886 to 1889, and won in 1887 aboard Montrose. He was born on a farm in Bourbon County, Kentucky and began his riding career at the age of 11. He won some of the most significant races in America from 1881 to 1891 but retired from race riding in 1900.
Alonzo Clayton rallied Azra to an impressive nose victory in 1892, in a three horse field, becoming the youngest jockey, at 15, to win the Derby. He was born in Mossy Point, Jackson County, Mississippi in 1876. In his four Derby mounts, he had one first place finish, two seconds, and a third.
James “Soup” Perkins, a native of Lexington, Kentucky, won the 1895 Derby aboard Halma as a 15-year-old, tying with Clayton as the youngest winning rider of the event. Perkins, who supposedly received his nickname for his love of soup, began riding at the age of 11. His brother, William Perkins, was a prominent trainer at the time and started six horses in the Derby. James Perkins died in 1911.
Willie Simms won in both of his Derby attempts, in 1896 aboard Ben Brush and in 1898 with Plaudit. Born in 1870 in Augusta, Georgia, he is the only African American rider to win each of the Triple Crown events: the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes in Maryland and the Belmont Stakes in New York. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 1977.
James “Jimmy” Winkfield, a Kentucky native,
rode in the Kentucky Derby four consecutive years and won back-to-back runnings aboard His Eminence in 1901 and Alan-a-Dale in 1902. He is the most recent Black jockey to win the Kentucky Derby. He was inducted in the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 2004.
Black Trainers Who Have Won the Kentucky Derby
Ansel Williamson was born enslaved in Virginia. He came to prominence as a trainer at R. A. Alexander’s Woodburn Farm, one of Kentucky’s first great breeding and racing operations. Ansel’s name is secure in history as the trainer of inaugural Kentucky Derby winner Aristides in 1875. He was enshrined in the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 1998.
James Williams trained the 1876 Kentucky Derby winner Vagrant for owner William Astor. Vagrant raced from 1875 to 1883 and had an astounding 88 career starts. As a gelding, Vagrant did not have the opportunity to become a stallion. It is said that the horse spent his final years pulling a cart in Lexington.
Ed Brown was born enslaved in Fayette County, Kentucky. Some of Brown’s earliest experiences with Thoroughbreds came at Woodburn Farm. Initially successful as a jockey, Ed Brown later trained the 1877 Kentucky Derby winner Baden-Baden. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 1984.
Raleigh Colston is the recognized trainer of 1883 Kentucky Derby winner Leonatus after years of newspapers crediting John McGinty with this honor. Born enslaved in Woodford County, Kentucky in 1837, Colston’s career included victories in such prestigious races as the 1870 Belmont Stakes and the 1883 Latonia Derby. William Bird won the Kentucky Derby in 1884 by training Buchanan, ridden by the great jockey Isaac Murphy. Bird had a career in the industry that lasted over 40 years. One of his greatest horses was Crickmore, a horse that beat 1881 Kentucky Derby winner Hindoo twice.
Abe Perry teamed with African American jockey Erskine Henderson to win the 1885 Kentucky Derby with Joe Cotton. The horse raced into his 7-year-old season, eventually suffering a fatal leg fracture at Boston’s Mystic Park.
Dudley Allen is the most recent African American trainer to win a Kentucky Derby, with a victory in 1891 with Kingman. Allen was also the first African American owner of a Derby winner, coowning Kingman with Kinzea Stone.
*According to the official records of Churchill Downs
Segregation and Jim Crow
The end of the Civil War, and the Reconstruction period that followed, brought hope for greater equality for African Americans. However, a fight for greater civil rights ended with the Supreme Court’s 1896 decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which permitted Jim Crow laws that codified segregation in the South. So, by the turn of the 20th century, the place held by African Americans in the racing industry would begin to look much different. Discrimination was evident nationwide, at times manifested in physical violence. In places like Chicago’s Harlem Race Track, white riders began using rough riding and intimidation tactics against their African American counterparts during races. Jimmy Winkfield was the victim of such an attack in 1900 that caused bruising to his leg and led to cracked ribs for his mount. Jim Crow laws, combined with the devastation in the region as a result of the Civil War, led many African Americans to leave the South and move to cities, primarily to the North and Midwest. Consequently, African Americans left behind the rural tradition of horsemanship, pursuing fewer careers in the racing industry. The exodus of African Americans from the South became so widespread by 1915 that the period became known as the “Great Migration.”
African American jockeys also suffered from increased financial investment in racing at the turn of the 20th century, a trend that surfaced despite the efforts of antigambling forces in the East. This investment made the riding profession more appealing to white riders. The influx of money coincided with new licensing requirements for jockeys, a policy that worked to keep licenses out of the hands of African American riders. As a result, there are several instances of African American athletes taking their talents to Europe, Jimmy Winkfield among them. This trend went beyond racing, as African American artists and entertainers went abroad as well. These expatriates felt race was a lesser issue in many European countries.
Print from original lithograph, Jimmy Winkfield Jeff Tull Gift of James Stewart
*Background and Foreground
Jimmy Winkfield
A native of Chilesburg, Kentucky in Lexington’s Bluegrass Country, Jimmy Winkfield began his work with horses in the late 1890s. He had a short racing career in the United States, lasting from 1898 to 1903. However, he won many premier stakes races such as the Latonia Derby, the Tennessee Derby in Nashville, and the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs. He won the Kentucky Derby twice, in 1901 and 1902, and is the most recent Black jockey to win the celebrated race.
Due largely to segregation, Winkfield eventually left the United States to ride in Europe. He rode primarily in Russia from 1904 to 1919 with great success. The Bolshevik Revolution arrived came in 1917 resulting in a communist USSR and a lack of support for racing, which was seen as a pastime of the wealthy. Winkfield would leave in 1919, settle in Paris, France by the summer of 1920 and again had great success as a jockey. In France, he met and married his second wife, Lydia de Minkiwitz, retired from race riding in 1930, and started a racing stable in the town of MaisonsLaffitte with land from his in-laws. Winkfield and Lydia faced additional obstacles after the former ended his riding career. In 1941, the Nazi forces occupied France and eventually seized the family’s property. The Winkfields fled to the United States for safety. Winkfield worked several odd jobs in the equine industry, ultimately training a few horses before returning to France in 1953.
Winkfield came back to the United States in 1960 for a medical procedure. Winkfield used the opportunity of being in Kentucky to attend a 1961 pre-Derby celebration at the Brown Hotel, as a guest of the National Turf Writers Association. Because of the strict segregation laws of the time, Winkfield was initially refused admission through the front door of the hotel. Through much discussion, Winkfield was finally allowed to attend the celebration.
He returned to Maisons-Laffitte and continued working with the horses in his stable until his death in 1974 at the age of 91. He was inducted into racing’s Hall of Fame in 2004.
Will Harbut
African American participation in the racing industry suffered due to racism and segregation moving into the 20th century, but the Black community by no means disappeared. However, many held positions of lesser authority on the backside of the race track. One example is Will Harbut, the groom of the legendary Man o’ War. Harbut became almost as famous as the Thoroughbred in his care because of the fantastic tales he told about the champion horse and his success on the track to the people who came to see Faraway Farm each year. Harbut would build suspense for visitors first by escorting them around the barns, introducing them to other notable horses, and showing them the antique fire bell that was rung any time one of the farm’s horses won a stakes race. He would end the tour by bringing out Man o’ War. Harbut and Man o’ War became a noted duo throughout their more than 15 years together, and both were often used in publicity. One of the most famous examples is their cover image that appeared on a 1941 edition of the once popular Saturday Evening Post. Harbut had to retire in 1946 due to his declining health, but he would often slip away from his house to visit with Man o’ War. Harbut passed away on October 3, 1947. Man o’ War died approximately one month later on November 1, 1947.
Left Jimmy Winkfield, ca. 1900 Courtesy Keeneland Library (248), Public domain image
Right Aging gracefully: Man o’ War at age 21 with groom Willie Harbut.
