May 10, 2025
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Black Iconic moments
HISTORY: Jockey Oliver Lewis Won the 1st Kentucky Derby 147 Years Ago (LISTEN)
HISTORY: Jockey Oliver Lewis Won the 1st Kentucky Derby 147 Years Ago (LISTEN)
by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson) In the wake of the recent Kentucky Derby upset, today we take a brief look at Oliver Lewis, the jockey who won the very first Derby, and the history of Black jockeys at the event. To read about it, read on. To hear about it, press PLAY: https://goodblacknews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GBNPADpod050922.mp3 [You can follow or subscribe to the Good…
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The forgottern godfathers of black American sport
Race on the track – The first professional black American athletes were jockeys, who dominated the sport until the early 20th Century. Jimmy Winkfield (pictured) was the last black rider to win the Kentucky Derby in 1901 and 1902.
Think of the greatest American sports stars of all time and names like Jesse Owens, Muhammad Ali and Serena Williams will likely spring to mind. But long before these champions smashed the record books -- and blazed a trail in the public's imagination -- the first generation of black U.S. athletes dominated an unlikely sport.
The godfathers of Owens, Ali and Williams weren't stereotypical towering, musclebound men found on basketball courts or in boxing rings. Instead, they were the jockeys of the race track and their dizzying success -- and dramatic fall -- is one of the most remarkable buried chapters in U.S. sporting history.
When the country's most prestigious horse race, the Kentucky Derby, launched in 1875, 13 of the 15 jockeys were African-American.
Much like the NBA today, black athletes dominated horse racing for the next three decades, winning 15 of the first 28 Derbies. "They were the premier horsemen in the world," says Joe Drape, author of "Black Maestro," which tells the story of champion jockey Jimmy Winkfield. "It was the first professional sport for black athletes in America. They were at the forefront of horse racing and it was a place where they could earn a good living."
Decades before Jackie Robinson made history in 1947 as the first black major league baseball player, African American jockeys forged a name as the first sports heroes of post-Civil War America.
The son of a former slave, Isaac Murphy was the first jockey to win three Kentucky Derbies -- in 1884, 1890, 1891. He went on to win an unheard-of 44% of all his competitions, becoming the first rider inducted into the National Racing Hall of fame.
"Murphy was the first millionaire black athlete," Drape told CNN. "He even had a white valet."
Many of these jockeys had been slaves in the South, working as stable hands and becoming skilled horse handlers.
Many of these jockeys had been slaves in the South, working as stable hands and becoming skilled horse handlers.
Plantation owners put them on the backs of horses in informal -- and dangerous -- competitions. When horse racing became an organized sport in the early 19th-Century, black jockeys were already leaders in the saddle.
Yet fast forward to today and you'd struggle to find an African-American jockey on a U.S. race track...
...Winfield was the last African American to win the Kentucky Derby -- in 1901 and 1902 -- and by 1921 they had all but disappeared.
It would be 79 years before another black rider, Marlon St. Julien, competed in 2000.
The introduction of the Jim Crow laws in the late 1880s -- segregating blacks and whites -- spelled an end to the golden era of jockeys like Winkfield and Murphy.
Increasing violence against black jockeys forced many to abandon racing and move to northern urban areas, says Drape.
"It became too dangerous to put black riders on horses," he added. "An influx of Irish immigrants were now slugging it out on the track, riding black jockeys into railings and making them fall."
Other riders, such as Winkfield, fled to Russia -- which had a thriving horse racing industry.
"The Russians were colorblind, you had jazz players and heavyweight boxers like Jack Johnson -- it was basically the last place black American sportsmen could go," Drape said...
...”Black people aren't on the track like they used to be," he said. "If you don't have someone in your family who's in the business, you don't have a reason to start racing."
Parker, the 54th-ranked jockey of all time, says racing is now dominated by Latinos...
..."From black to Irish to Latino, jockeys in America tend to mirror immigration," Drape said.
"The conditions are the same as 200 years ago -- the best jockeys tend to be from rural countries, they grow up around horses, it's tradition and it's a family business."
For Parker, jockeys like Murphy and Winkfield didn't just change the face of racing -- they paved the way for generations of black American sports stars...
Read full articl HERE
Also see:
-- An African-American Jockey Hasn't Won the Kentucky Derby for More Than a Century. Here's Why
--
Alonzo Clayton, 1876 the youngest jockey
Alonzo “Lonnie” Clayton, who reached stardom at the age of 15 when he became the youngest rider to win the Kentucky Derby, was born on March 27, 1876 in Kansas City, Missouri to Robert and Evaline Clayton. Throughout Clayton’s remarkable career, he won other major races including the Champagne Stakes (1891), Jerome Handicap (1891), Clark Handicap (1892, 1897), Travers Stakes (1892), Monmouth Handicap (1893), Kentucky Oaks (1894, 1895) and the Arkansas Derby (1895).
But the attention paid to Kevin Krigger brought to mind a former Arkansas resident who was once among the country’s top jockeys, Alonzo Lonnie Clayton.
Alonzo "Lonnie" Clayton - Forgotten Arkansas Legend, who became the youngest jockey to win the Kentucky Derby.
Clayton, Alonzo | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed
Roy Wood Jr. highlights the triumphs and tribulations of trailblazing Black horse racing jockeys, including Oliver Lewis, Isaac Burns Murphy, Cheryl White and Jimmy Winkfield.
History of Color – Ep. 20 - Isaac Burns Murphy, Of Horse and Man
NEW @Color_HistoryOf podcast! This month Allegra & @PapaElefante delve into the world of Black Jockeys in the late 1800s into the 1900s with a focus on the career of Isaac Burns Murphy. #CTAfam #ladypodsquad #podernfamily
This month, Mariano and Allegra delve into the world of Black Jockeys in the late 1800s into the 1900s with a focus on the career of Isaac Burns Murphy. The highest paid jockey of his time.
References
biography.com Isaac Burns Murphy Athlete 1861-1896 June 2015
BlackPast.org Murphy, Isaac Burns
Encyclopedia Britannica britannica.com Isaac Burns Murphy American Jockey
YouTube clip: Black…
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ISAAC MURPHY :: KY DERBY BLACK JOCKEY (he won 628 of his 1,212 starts) BORN IN FRANKFORT KY 1861#BLACKHISTORY
Born on this day…
April 16, 1861*
Isaac Burns Murphy: 3-Time Kentucky Derby Winner/Hall of Fame Jockey
Books:
The Prince of Jockeys: The Life of Isaac Burns Murphy - Pellom McDaniels III
Isaac Murphy: I Dedicate This Ride - Frank X Walker
Perfect Timing: How Isaac Murphy Became one of the World's Greatest Jockeys – Pasti B. Trollinger
Additional Quick Read:
Groundbreaking for Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden Celebrates Unsung Hero of Kentucky Racing
*some sources do not give April 16th day of birth
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