African American Jockeys at the Kentucky Derby
The year is 1875, the Civil War has ended, and the Civil Rights Act of 1875 has passed. On May 17, Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr., the grandson of American explorer William Clark of Lewis and Clark fame, hosted a horse race on his uncle’s land in Louisville. This annual race would come to be known as the Kentucky Derby. Many of the early jockeys were Black and the growing popularity of the race gave the jockeys a unique opportunity to earn wealth and fame during the Jim Crow era. Let’s explore the history of these great jockeys who are the foundation upon which a major part of Kentucky’s cultural identity is built.
The winner of the first Kentucky Derby was Oliver Lewis upon Aristides. Lewis was formerly enslaved in Kentucky and regarded as extremely skilled and adept. Because of Lewis’s talent and control, H. Price McGrath, Aristides' owner, instructed Lewis to use Aristides to tire out the other competitors and allow Chesapeake, his other horse, to win. Lewis ran Aristides hard, in the beginning, to open up the lead for Chesapeake. However, during the race, Chesapeake fell far behind, giving Lewis the opportunity to go for the win. Despite Lewis’s horsemanship skills earning him the first-ever Kentucky Derby win, the credit went to the horse’s white owner McGrath.
William “Billy” Walker (pictured above) won the Kentucky Derby in 1877. Walker was born into slavery in Woodford County. He began racing at a young age and won his first race at eleven years old in 1871 in New York. Walker continued to gain racing experience and fame throughout his youth and by 1875, was a competitor in the first Kentucky Derby. He finished fourth and ran in three other Kentucky Derbies, earning the title of leading rider at Churchill Downs in 1876, 1877, 1878, and 1881. After Walker’s racing career ended, he became a highly desired advisor for the equine industry and an expert in breeding practices. Walker claimed to have witnessed fifty-nine consecutive Derbies during his lifetime. He died in 1933 and was buried in the Louisville Cemetery in an unmarked grave. His burial site was later rediscovered and a headstone was erected in 1996 by Churchill Downs. The marker finally gave Walker the respect and recognition he did not receive during his lifetime. The Derby Trial stakes race that precedes the running of the Kentucky Derby was renamed in honor of Walker in 2015.[1]
One of the most famous and successful jockeys of all time was Isaac Murphy. Born Isaac Burns, his racing career began because of his mother. Her name is unknown, she worked as a laundress and one of her customers was Richard Owings. Murphy caught Owings’s attention and he introduced the young boy to his business partner James T. Williams. The pair operated a racing stable, and Murphy was hired as a stable boy. Murphy became a student of the famed Black trainer Eli Jordan and competed in his first race at age fourteen. By the summer of 1876, he had left the last name of Burns behind him and began racing under the name Murphy to honor his grandfather. By 1877, Murphy racked up wins with victories in New York, Kentucky, and Maryland.[2] In 1879 Murphy competed in the Kentucky Derby and placed second. Murphy competed in a total of eleven Kentucky Derbies during his career, and became the first to win three in 1884, 1890, and 1891. Widely regarded as one of America’s top athletes, Murphy was earning over $15,000 a year.[3] He was referred to as the master of pace and had a signature finish that drove the crowd wild. Pulling back on the reigns to keep his mount well away from the front, Murphy would allow those at the front to tire themselves out, opening him up to fully unleash the horse’s power and drive straight for first place in a nail-biting finish. Murphy earned a recorded win record of 34.46%, untouched even today.
Despite Murphy’s success on the track, he still faced difficulties. Jockeys were constantly trying to stay “underweight,” in order to maintain a certain weight to not weigh down the horse. Staying underweight led many jockeys to develop unhealthy eating habits often referred to as “flipping.” Flipping is a form of dieting where one severely undereats. During the off-season, Murphy would typically weigh around 130–140 pounds but had to drop to 110 pounds during the racing season.[4] The constant and dramatic weight changes paired with undereating took a toll on Murphy. In 1890, during a race at Monmouth Park in New Jersey, Murphy finished in last place on Firenzi, a horse that was unanimously agreed upon should not have been beaten. Murphy had difficulties dismounting after the race, falling off Firenzi and having to be helped back up. Unsubstantiated rumors swirled in the newspapers that Murphy was drunk, placing a dent in his highly regarded character. After the incident, Murphy’s career began to decline. His struggle to stay underweight increased and he competed in fewer races. In 1893 Murphy opened his own stable and began to transition from riding to owning and training. Three years later on February 12, Murphy died at his home in Lexington. Most who knew Murphy during his lifetime commented on his exceptional character and dedication to the sport. He was the first person inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 1955. In 1967 Murphy’s body was moved from an unmarked grave in African Cemetery No. 2 in Lexington to Man O’ War Park, and following a final move, he resides today at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
James “Jimmy” Winkfield won the 1901 and 1902 Derbies. He grew up just outside Lexington and entered the world of horse racing as a stablehand in 1897 at Latonia. A year later, Winkfield participated in his first race in Chicago at Hawthorn Racetrack. In 1899 Winkfield earned his first victory and signed on with his initial racing stable. Becoming the top three jockey at New Orleans Fairgrounds in 1900, Winkfield then went on to compete in his first Kentucky Derby, finishing third. Winkfield was now one of the top riders in the United States, picking up wins for the 1901 and 1902 Derbies. He became the second jockey ever to earn a back-to-back win at the Derby after Isaac Murphy. Winkfield died in 1974 in his early nineties and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 2004. As of 2024, Winkfield is the last Black jockey to win the Kentucky Derby.
There are many more great Black jockeys as well as trainers and owners. To learn more, check out The Legacy of Black Horsemen documentary by KET.
Images and archival material:
Bibliography:
Hotaling, Edward. The Great Black Jockeys. California: Prima Publishing, 1999.
International Museum of the Horse. Black Horsemen of the Kentucky Turf. Lexington: Kentucky Horse Park, 2018.
“Negro Jockeys Now Extinct: Colored Riders, Once ‘Kings of the Saddle,’ Gradually Disappear Fortunes Go Quickly.” Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), January 21, 1912.
“Passing of the Colored Jockeys: Winkfield and Blake Now the Only Dusky Riders of Any Promise.” Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), January 14, 1902.
Rogers, Darren. “Derby Trial Renamed Pat Day Mile, Moved to Kentucky Derby Day; 25 Stakes Total $8.05 Million.” Churchill Downs. February 6, 2015.
Saunders, John Robert, and Monica Renae Saunders. Black Winning Jockeys in the Kentucky Derby. North Carolina: McFarland and Company, 2003.
Footnotes:
[1] Darren Rogers, “Derby Trial Renamed Pat Day Mile, Moved to Kentucky Derby Day; 25 Stakes Total $8.05 Million,” Churchill Downs, February 6, 2015.
[2] Edward Hotaling, The Great Black Jockeys (California: Prima Publishing, 1999), 241-242.
[3] Ibid., 255.
[4] Ibid., 252.
