Due to demand, the Library's free exhibit and its on-site youth and adult programs have been extended through Dec. 8.

Other events include:

Now: Companion book available

• The companion book to The Heart of the Turf: Racing's Black Pioneers is available at the Library and The Keeneland Shop (in store and online) for $10. All proceeds will benefit the Keeneland Library Foundation.
• Keeneland Library will begin to donate copies of the book to community and industry organizations Sept. 11.

Sept. 15: LexArts Gallery Hop at the Lyric (5-8 p.m.)

• To celebrate the launch of the traveling exhibit in Lexington's East End, incoming Library Director Roda Ferraro will deliver the evening's educational program and the first 100 Gallery Hop attendees will receive a free copy of the companion book.

Sept. 19: “Meet the Authors” free at Keeneland Library (6:30-8 p.m.)

• Pulitzer Prize nominee Sarah Maslin Nir and co-author Raymond White Jr. will present their new book, The Jockey & Her Horse, the story of Cheryl White Breyer. Books will be available for purchase for $17. A brief program will be followed by a book signing. RSVP here.

Sept. 20: “Meet the Authors” free at the Lyric (6-7:30 p.m.)

• After an opening program in the Lyric's Community Room, a meet and greet is scheduled with Nir and White. The first 100 attendees under the age of 18 will receive a free copy of their book, along with free General Admission passes to Keeneland's Fall Meet.

Oct. 21: Cheryl White Breyer Sets at Keeneland

• During Sunrise Trackside, a free, family-friendly event at Keeneland from 8-10 a.m. (ET), Keeneland will spotlight White's career as a jockey. Children will have a chance to try on a replica of White's silks, and fans will have a chance to win Keeneland Breyer sets featuring a figure of White, the model horse Jetolara (her first winning mount) and a copy of the book.
• The Keeneland Shop and Keeneland Library will host a signing with Raymond White Jr. from 1-3 p.m. Cheryl White Breyer sets and copies of The Jockey & Her Horse will be available to purchase.

Nov. 18: An Evening with Geraldine Brooks at the Keeneland Sales Pavilion (6:30-8 p.m.)

• Keeneland Library will host Pulitzer Prize winning-author Geraldine Brooks, who will discuss her 2022 novel, Horse. Details to follow.

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When speaking about his work, Newman describes it: “The Will of Aunt Eliza is an ode to a pioneering black horsewoman [Eliza Carpenter]. Born into slavery, she quickly inflicted her will on her condition and rose above and beyond the social standard of that day. The Will of Aunt Eliza stands as a reminder that no amount of oppression can halt the will of freedom.”

Kentucky Derby Museum is proud to play a role in the continued dialogue about the significant impact African American trainers, horse owners, and jockeys have had and continue to have on the sport of horse racing and the Kentucky Derby.

“We are grateful for the support of our community partners in working to ensure the stories of Black horse men and women are told as an integral part of the Kentucky Derby's history,” said Patrick Armstrong, Kentucky Derby Museum President and CEO.

In addition to the Grand Prize, cash prizes were also awarded to first, second and third place. Honorable mention awards were also given out to four other participating artists. Artist Simone Brown was awarded honorable mention and given an additional prize from Watson's which included a $2,500 gift card good for use in-store at their locations. Click here for a full list of winners. This link will take you to images of the top five winning art pieces.

Artwork submitted to the contest will be displayed at the Kentucky Derby Museum and Watson's starting later this Spring. Additional art will be displayed by our community partners: the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage, KMAC Museum, Louisville Free Public Library, and the Muhammad Ali Center.

During the months of February and March, Kentucky Derby Museum will be offering visitors FREE admission to the Black Heritage in Racing Tour on select Saturdays at 1 P.M as part of Louisville Tourism's Unfiltered Truth Program. The Museum invites the community to take part in the tour to further their knowledge of some of the most important African American influencers in Thoroughbred racing.

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Champions Day presented by TwinSpires annually highlights the history of the Kentucky Derby and the sport of Thoroughbred racing. This year, as part of an industry-wide commitment to increasing diversity and inclusivity in the sport of horse racing, the day will celebrate Black Horsemen in Thoroughbred racing and feature partner organizations whose mission supports equitable opportunities in racing.

The event highlights will include a commemorative print giveaway by The Art of Kacy and artist signing by the internationally-recognized Kentucky artist himself, Kacy Jackson. Louisville artist and printmaker Norman Spencer of CloudHotelPrints will create prints highlighting Black Horsemen who dedicated their career to elevating the sport of horse racing. The Kentucky Derby Museum will also be on hand to feature items from their Black Heritage in Racing Exhibit and Tour.

Organizations that will be featured throughout Champions for Change are: Ed Brown Society, Legacy Equine Academy, Project to Preserve African American Turf History (PPATH), Phoenix Rising, and Simmons College. Global Economic Diversity Development Initiative (GEDDI), a nonprofit foundation focused on building economic wealth for the Black community in the areas of workforce, economic empowerment, supply chain, leadership development and business acceleration, is the charitable beneficiary of the day. This year, Churchill Downs has donated over $200,000 to these nonprofit and educational organizations to support their work in creating more equity in the industry of horse racing.

Last month, Churchill Downs announced a change to the name of the featured overnight stakes race on Champions Day to the $120,000 Isaac Murphy Marathon in honor of the legendary African-American and native Kentuckian who was arguably the greatest jockey American racing has ever known. The 1 ½-mile endurance race for Thoroughbreds age 4 and up was formerly known as Champions Day Marathon.

“Champions for Change is a significant addition to this year's Kentucky Derby Week programming,” said Churchill Downs Racetrack President Mike Anderson. “It is the result of months of challenging but necessary conversations where we looked not only within our own organization and at the needs of our community, but also at the sport of horseracing to explore ways we can work together toward more equity. We feel fortunate that others in our industry will join us in this effort next Tuesday and commit to being champions for change.”

Tickets to Champions Day and to join the “Champions for Change” celebration can be purchased at https://www.kentuckyderby.com/visit/derby-week/champions-day. They include Reserved Boxes to General Admission assigned seat starting at $14.

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The exhibit, a permanent display inside the Museum since 1993, documents the stories and contributions of Black horsemen in the sport of Thoroughbred racing. With support from Churchill Downs and the James Graham Brown Foundation, the Black Heritage in Racing exhibit has moved from the second floor to a larger and more prominent location on the first floor of the Museum.

The new exhibit space is just under 930 square feet, which is more than 20 times larger than the previous exhibit space. This increased footprint allows the Museum to display more of its collection of artifacts pertaining to Black History in the sport, add new components such as oral history interviews and artwork, and provide visitors the best experience possible. The exhibit walks guests through Black Heritage in horse racing history, from the early days when Black horsemen dominated the sport, to the Jim Crow era that led to the exclusion of Black jockeys, and to modern times.

“We're excited to invite the public to see this beautiful exhibit. It is really striking, with a bold red theme throughout, and larger than life images of these horsemen,” said Patrick Armstrong, President & CEO of Kentucky Derby Museum. “It was our team's intent when designing this exhibit to give these individuals their time to shine, by making them stand out in these oversized pictures throughout the space. It is our hope that when exploring this exhibit, people will walk away with a greater appreciation of the Black Heritage that is woven through horse racing. It is a distinct honor for us to be the keepers and tellers of their stories for years to come.”

Guests can explore the stories of history-makers like Oliver Lewis, the first jockey to win the Kentucky Derby aboard Aristides in 1875. The story of Ansel Williamson, the trainer of Aristides, is also featured.

Visitors can also learn about the career of one of the greatest jockeys of all time, Isaac Murphy. Born an enslaved person, he went on to win three Kentucky Derbys, and won an estimated 44% of his races, compared to the average jockey today winning around 20%. Many more stories are shared, including names from the modern era, like hip-hop star MC Hammer, who had a 3rd place finisher in the 1992 Kentucky Derby and won the Kentucky Oaks in 1991 with Lite Light.

Additionally, guests will learn about Greg Harbut and Ray Daniels, the owners of Necker Island, a horse who contended for Kentucky Derby 146. Harbut's great-grandfather was the groom to the legendary horse Man o' War.

Black Heritage in Racing Collection

The Black Heritage in Racing Collection at the Museum features several components, including the expanded exhibit, a new tour that launched in December, and Proud of My Calling, a monthly, 60-minute live acting performance that brings the stories of Black horsemen to life. Proud of My Calling, supported by UPS, launches Saturday, March 27. Still to come, a Black Heritage in Racing traveling exhibit will be created over the next several months to travel to museums, community centers, visitor centers and churches. Additionally, the Museum's Education Team teaches thousands of students each year through two programs focusing on Black Heritage in Racing during field trips, in-school teaching and virtual learning.

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On the new African Americans in Racing Tour, made possible with support from Churchill Downs and the James Graham Brown Foundation, guests will walk through Churchill Downs Racetrack while making historically significant stops along the way on this 90 minute experience. Through history, including the Jim Crow era that led to the exclusion of Black jockeys from the sport, and to modern times, guests will learn about the profound impact African Americans have made on horse racing from the very beginning. Visitors will hear incredible stories of how 13 of the 15 horses in the first-ever Kentucky Derby were ridden by Black jockeys, and 15 of the first 28 Derby winners were ridden by Black jockeys. This tour is now available Saturdays at 1 p.m. and is $15 per person.

Secondly, the Museum is launching the “Proud of My Calling” experience, a monthly, 60-minute immersive program where visitors are introduced to incredible Black horsemen through costumed actors, historic paintings, photos and objects from the past. Meet greats like Oliver Lewis, Isaac Murphy and Ansel Williamson. Lewis, a Black jockey, rode Aristides to victory in the first Kentucky Derby in 1875. Williamson, born enslaved, became a successful trainer, nabbing wins with horses including Aristides in that inaugural Derby. Murphy, also born enslaved, is considered one of the greatest jockeys of all time, winning three Kentucky Derbys and an estimated 44% of his races. This experience is offered monthly and is $20 per person, starting March 27.

These two exciting new opportunities are part of Louisville Tourism's Unfiltered Truth Collection, which features several local attractions highlighting African American contributions to the city and culture.

In line with the Museum's non-profit mission to engage, educate and excite everyone about the extraordinary experience that is the Kentucky Derby, the Museum has been sharing the important role African Americans have had on the Derby for decades. Since 1993, African Americans in Thoroughbred Racing, a permanent exhibit, has chronicled the impact African Americans have had on the Thoroughbred industry and the Kentucky Derby, and features some of the most significant artifacts in the Museum's collection.
Additionally, the Museum's Education Team teaches thousands of students each year about this important history through field trips and in-school teaching.

Coming in Spring 2021, Kentucky Derby Museum is redesigning and moving its African Americans in Thoroughbred Racing exhibit to a larger and more prominent location within the Museum, as well as expanding the footprint of the exhibit. This will allow the Museum to display more of its collection, add new components, and provide visitors the best experience possible. This exhibit will also feature oral history interviews conducted with Louisville's African American community. This expansion is also made possible through support from Churchill Downs and the James Graham Brown Foundation.

Additionally, a traveling African Americans in Thoroughbred Racing exhibit will be created to travel to museums, community centers, visitor centers and churches.

Jockey Oliver Lewis

Jimmy Winkfield aboard Alan A Dale

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Bishop was one of 17 children born to a West Virginia family whose ancestors were enslaved. Sent to live with a nearby childless couple as a toddler, she was indulged with fancy dresses and one mesmerizing pony ride that changed her life. Her love of horses took her to the Charles Town racetrack at age fourteen to work as a groom, hot walker and then trainer, all the time fighting sexism and racial bigotry against a backdrop of the swirling Civil Rights movement.

She prevailed to break barriers, shatter stereotypes and celebrate countless transforming victories in the winner's circle with many wealthy clients. As a single mother after two failed marriages, financial reality forced her to take on extra work in the shipping department at a nearby Doubleday publishing factory. Never wavering in her passion, she returned to the track to train horses at age eighty. And finally, with little fanfare, she was honored for her pioneering accomplishments as the first black woman licensed to train racehorses in the United States.

This never-before-told story brings to life Sylvia's love of horses and demonstrates her resolve and grit in confronting a litany of obstacles. This included the limited opportunity for an education and the precarious odds of getting her fractious Thoroughbred racehorses to the starting gate when factoring in their health and soundness.

Sylvia' s clients included the late Tyson Gilpin, a Virginia native and former president of the Fasig-Tipton sales company. Their biggest victory came in The Iron Horse Mile at Shenandoah Downs on Sept. 4, 1962. Eddie Arcaro presented the trophy as Gilpin and his children gathered in the winner's circle.

Sylvia Rideoutt Bishop made her mark in the alluring sport of kings long before the tennis-playing Williams sisters or Olympic track star Jackie Joyner ever made the evening news. She traveled the half-mile track racing and fairground circuit in Cumberland, Timonium and Hagerstown Maryland, not far from Washington, D.C.

Sylvia Rideoutt Bishop Had A Way With Horses is available on Amazon and autographed hardback books with free postage are available on vickymoon.com.

Moon is a writer, editor and photographer.  She has chronicled the lives of the famous and the not-so-famous, covered major crimes and prominent lives for People Magazine and The Washington Post. She writes a monthly life-in-the-Virginia-countryside column “Over the Moon” for Washington Life magazine. She has reported on hunt balls, steeplechase races, and parties from Palm Beach to Saratoga Springs for Town and Country and Millionaire magazines.

Moon has written about homes and gardens for Veranda and Southern Accents and served as a contributing editor for House and Garden. She appeared on the A&E network's “City Confidential” and served as a producer for Dominick Dunne's “Power, Privilege and Justice.” This is her tenth book, with many of her others involving horses and racing.

The post New Book Chronicles Life Of Sylvia Rideoutt Bishop, The First Black Female Trainer In America appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Today, the Paulick Report continues our series on Black horsemen of Triple Crown racing history which we started before the Belmont Stakes with a profile on Edward Dudley Brown. If you missed it, you can access that piece here.

In a normal Kentucky Derby year, one of the most popular places for that perfect pre-race selfie is the Aristides statue which overlooks the paddock at Churchill Downs. Aristides is well-known in racing circles as the winner of the first Derby in 1875, but beyond this point of trivial pursuit many people don't know much about him – including the role Black horsemen played in getting him to the post that day.

Of the 15 horses who went to the post that first Derby Day, 13 did so with Black jockeys, including the eventual winner. Aristides had Oliver Lewis aboard, who was legged up by a former slave named Ansel Williamson.

Williamson was born an enslaved person in Virginia around 1810. The earliest accounts of his career as a trainer don't appear until the 1850s, by which time he was in Alabama, where he was enslaved as a trainer by T.G. Goldsby. It's likely his experience with horses started well before age 40. Williamson's specialty during this time was training horses for three-mile heats, including the nationally-known runner called Brown Dick.

Williamson was then sold to A. Keene Richards, for whom he trained Australian and Glycera. Richards, who was based in Kentucky, would become known as an influential breeder. Interestingly, Richards was perhaps best-known for importing a number of Arabian horses into the United States to reinvigorate what he saw as an inferior, weakened Thoroughbred which had strayed too far from its roots. The Thoroughbred of the time, in Richards' view, lacked durability and stamina of days past (sound familiar?). Richards' view of stamina was a minimum of a four-mile contest, which he judged the English Thoroughbred could not withstand without injury. The horses resulting from Richards' breeding experiment would unfortunately become spoils of the Civil War, which broke out just after he imported and bred Arabian stallions to Thoroughbred mares.

By now, having developed a reputation for his horsemanship skills, Williamson was sold in 1864 to Robert Alexander, owner of Woodburn Farm. Alexander seems to have had a fondness for Williamson before this, naming a colt Ansel after him in 1856. While at Woodburn, Williamson trained Asteroid, who was one of the most successful racehorses of his day, undefeated in 12 starts and earner of $9,700 by the time of his retirement.

Of course, Williamson made the move to Woodburn in the thick of the Civil War, when both the Confederate and Union armies were constantly in search of horses. According to Katherine Mooney's 'Race Horse Men,' Southern Thoroughbred owners were particularly nervous throughout this period, as horses were generally perceived as symbols of the Confederacy, making them attractive trophies for Union forces.

Writings from the period recall one nighttime raid on Woodburn by Confederate guerrilla Bill Quantrill, who rode with his men to the door and demanded horses. It seemed Quantrill was familiar with racing and with Woodburn, because he began requesting specific animals. Williamson negotiated with Quantrill in the dark and when the soldier requested Asteroid, quick-thinking Williamson was able to pull a young horse from a nearby stall who, under the cover of night, looked passable for Asteroid. Although Quantrill made off with 15 of Alexander's runners, he didn't get the stable's biggest star.

What Williamson may have felt in those moments, or indeed his feelings on any part of his career, is mostly absent from available historical accounts, which was true for many of the period's Black horsemen. There are small glimpses into the personalities of some, with jockeys more commonly being described in detail than trainers. In fact, their being noted at all was offensive to some turf devotees after their emancipation.

An artist's depiction of Aristides

“Freedom was a daily series of tiny revolutions,” Mooney wrote in 'Race Horse Men.' “The world had fundamentally changed, as the Spirit of the Times impatiently reminded its readers, after the magazine received a few letters from racing enthusiasts uncomfortable with Black competitors. Their scruples were ridiculous, the Spirit scoffed. 'Does any man with a pennyweight of brains think the less of Charles Littlefield or Gilpatrick because they ride against Abe or Albert or Alexander's Dick?' Between the rails of the racetrack, at least, Black men were to be the acknowledged equals of white ones.”

After the Civil War, this designation came in one small way to Williamson, who took his last name upon being granted his freedom. Many Black jockeys and trainers, like those noted in the quote from the Spirit of the Times, were identified only by their first name, but the Spirit printed Williamson's full name along with his horse's entries, just as it did for white trainers.

One account recalls a Spirit reporter rushing over to Abe Hawkins, the most famous of the very first well-known Black jockeys, to shake his hand in the crowd at the Jersey Derby. It seemed that by the end of the war, those who knew horses respected the immense talent of Black horsemen, even if they couldn't see them as equal people.

Williamson worked for Alexander after emancipation, and later went to train for H.P. McGrath of McGranthiana Farm. Williamson wasn't the only former Alexander employee who ended up at McGranthiana – Edward Dudley Brown, eventual trainer of Ben Brush and Plaudit, also worked there. It was common then, as it is now, for trainers and riders to mentor each other, and it seems Williamson nurtured Brown's early career as a rider. Brown began as a jockey before he was a trainer, and presumably his association with Williamson continued to benefit him when he transitioned to training. Brown mentored William Walker, the Black jockey who rode Baden Baden to victory in the Derby when he was still a teenager.

“In freedom, older men could pass on their skills to younger ones and hope to see privilege and experience accrue increasing rewards over the generations,” wrote Mooney. “Free men could afford to think of themselves as friends, colleagues, and mentors, as members of a group governed by more than individual interest.

“Williamson and others with insider knowledge also tried to take care of Black horsemen outside their immediate circle. Black men laid their money down at the betting windows with assurance, because they had inside information that had come from African American trainers and jockeys.”

When Williamson brought Aristides to the post at Churchill (then called the Louisville Jockey Club), the horse was not expected to win. Aristides had been entered as a pacesetter for McGrath's other runner, Chesapeake. He was small, and he was a front-runner in what was then a 1 ½-mile race.

Lewis took Aristides to the lead as he'd been instructed by McGrath, maintaining good position and a little surprised that after half a mile he'd had no challengers. Chesapeake, who had broken poorly, was no threat. Legend has it Lewis could be seen looking around, somehow spotting McGrath in a crowd reported to number 10,000, and hearing McGrath call out “Go on!” Lewis slipped the reins and on Aristides went, down the stretch and into history.

Williamson's name appears in relatively few modern books on Derby history outside of a passing mention in a table of past winners. In one, it's misspelled as Ansel Williams in both the index and his single mention in the entirety of the main text – an insult if ever there was one. Most racing historians would say however that his legacy wasn't really Aristides so much as the superstar Asteroid, who made his name known far and wide, to people he'd never met. His mark on the sport also includes Tom Bowling, Merrill, Virgil, Aaron Pennington, Susan Ann and yes, — Chesapeake. As a trainer, he won the Belmont, Travers, Jerome, Phoenix, and the Withers.

Williamson was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 1998.

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The Legacy Equine Academy, which encourages students in grades 6 – 12 to attend college and pursue equine, agriculture, natural resources, and environmental science degrees, is the brainchild of Ronald Mack. Mack recently shared with the NTRA his inspiration behind the Legacy Equine Academy and some of the long-term hopes he has for the program.

A: “As a kid, I literally grew up on the grounds of the old Kentucky Association in the Eastend of Lexington, KY. The street I lived on (Aspendale Drive) was an oval. We were aware that our street was an old horse racing track. However, we had no idea that when we played in the field out back, we were playing on the infield of a historically famous racecourse.

“A few years ago, I read a book titled Perfect Timing to my son Stoney. The book is about the life of Isaac Murphy. Many consider Murphy, a Black horseman, the greatest jockey of all time. Inspired by Murphy's story, I began to research Thoroughbred racing in the late 1800s and early 1900s era. The names, stories and accomplishments of hundreds of Black horsemen in and around Lexington, KY may be lost but there is little doubt of their significance to Thoroughbred racing. Through my research, it was obvious to me that the Thoroughbred industry, and indeed, the wealth and success found today would not exist without the Black horsemen's hard work and expertise! These Trailblazers overcame adversity and found great success, which quickly vanished from memory in the early 20th century.

“Much of that history happened where I played as a kid.  I wanted to establish a grand event (The Legacy Ball) to pay homage to those Thoroughbred legends.   I also founded The Legacy Equine Academy, Inc. to connect African American and other racially diverse youth to their heritage of the Black horseman.”

Q: A major objective of the Legacy program is to encourage and expose students in grades 6-12 to the equine and agricultural industries. What can the Thoroughbred industry do specifically to help advance that objective?

A: “We encourage the Thoroughbred industry to support our efforts! Both financially and by providing resources and industry related activities, such as apprenticeships, job shadowing, tours, etc., to help potential future industry leaders. We welcome opportunities for our LEA students to discover firsthand how equine and agriculture technology relate to the world around them and discover the excitement of academic excellence, leadership, technical development, and teamwork. In turn, LEA provides a 'pipeline' of qualified and certified student leaders for career employment opportunities in the Thoroughbred and Agriculture industries.”

Q: So much of the Thoroughbred industry is rooted in the contributions of the African-American community and people of color. How can the racing community better amplify those voices?

A: “Reaching out and supporting an organization like LEA is an example of how the industry can solidify their commitment of exposing two of the world's most prominent industries to a new audience and a new generation. As an industry partner, LEA fosters a commitment to young people that promotes the Equine and Agriculture industries and career related opportunities it offers. These industries take a special kind of skill, passion and patience.  As a community partner, the racing establishment could begin to set a standard throughout the world by exemplifying the importance of greater professional workforce racial diversity.”

Q: What has been the most rewarding aspect of your work with the students in the Legacy program?

A: “To experience the moment when a young person has a 'discovery' of new ideas and opportunities as a result of our program makes it worth the hard work, commitment and dedication to the LEA mission. As I mentioned before, bridging the rich heritage of the Black Horsemen to today's standards in the industries they help build, has been a mission that, hopefully, will become my 'Legacy'.”

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Ahead of each of this year's Triple Crown races, we plan to release a profile on a black horseman from racing history whose story may be unfamiliar to you.

Edward Dudley Brown was a man of many names in his 56 years, and also stood behind many of the biggest names in horse racing following the Civil War.

Brown began his life as a slave, born in 1850 in Fayette County, Ky., and was sold at the age of seven along with his cousin to Robert A. Alexander of Woodburn Stud in neighboring Woodford County. The details on the early part of Brown's life are scant, other than he demonstrated an interest in fast horses not long after his arrival to Woodburn and learned to ride, probably at around the time political tensions in the United States were reaching a boiling point.

Brown's interest in racehorses was probably not considered out of place for a young slave at the time. Horse racing had evolved in this country as a sporting outlet for wealthy landowners. Horses were a common part of daily life in the 1700s and 1800s of course, so it was natural that one farmer should suggest to another that he had the fastest horse in either of their barns. Eventually, the most enthusiastic race fans imported English Thoroughbreds and began breeding horses specifically to race.

Since those who could afford 'blooded' horses were often gentlemen farmers, they typically knew how to ride and knew the basics of how a barn should run, but that didn't mean they wanted to do the work themselves. Prior to the Civil War, this meant the task of not just grooming but also riding and training often fell to slaves.

In her book 'Race Horse Men,' writer Katherine Mooney notes that when African slaves were brought to this country, they brought with them generational knowledge of horses. North Africans and Middle Easterners brought horses and horsemen to West Africa, and the region became known for its equestrianism. For some Africans brought to the colonies in slavery, horses may have been a part of their background since the Mali Empire (which existed from the early 1200s to mid-1600s).

This left those slaves in charge of racing barns in a tricky position – they were respected for their superior expertise, but still classified as inferior beings behind whites. They had some physical freedom to travel and to manage other slaves underneath them, but were by no means free. They helped their owners win purse money and wagers placed alongside the race route, but were not paid themselves. They were heralded for their skills in the saddle, but could be (and were) threatened with lynching if they were judged not to have put in their best effort.

Mooney writes that white horsemen grew to rely on the black horsemen who ran their barns, working closely alongside them, developing a strangely dichotomous relationship.

“Examining the confined world of the track, we can unpick those knots and see that white turfmen were often strikingly sincere in the ties they professed with black horsemen, with these particular privileged slaves,” she writes. “But as clear as their sincerity is their complete inability to see black horsemen as full human beings. They recognized these black men as competent professionals and often as congenial companions. But they only saw black horsemen in relation to themselves; they could hardly imagine them with lives and feelings in which white interests played no part. This view of human beings as useful instruments was smotheringly all-encompassing, far deeper than any individual affection or sentimentality, malice or hypocrisy.”

It was into this strange dynamic that Brown rose to power, or as much power as he was allowed by the color of his skin.

It quickly became clear that he was a skilled rider, and also talented as a foot racer. Brown would sometimes gallop a horse named Brown Dick, who was best known for setting a record in 1856 for three-mile heats. Legend has it that Brown was so quick on two feet that people compared him to the well-known Thoroughbred and began calling him by the same name. The nickname stuck, so much so that at his death, a number of industry publications referred to him as “Brown Dick” – which had to be puzzling for fans of the equine Brown Dick.

It seems to have been tradition in those days to refer to slaves by their first names only, making it somewhat challenging for researchers to trace an enslaved jockey's career. Further confusing the matter, Brown was often referred to simply as “Dick,” rather than “Ed” or “Edward.” Slaves were sometimes specified by their owner's name, so he occasionally appears in written record as “Alexander's Dick” and we are left to assume Robert A. Alexander had no other riders by the same first name. Regardless, Brown quickly caught Alexander's attention and was assigned to ride his first race aboard Woodburn's Asteroid, one of the best sons of the great Lexington, when Brown was just 14. The pair won races in St. Louis and a $750 stakes at Woodlawn in Louisville, and a couple of walkover heats.

It was not long after that first race the Thirteenth Amendment was passed, releasing Brown and thousands of others into a society that had largely not contemplated a place for them. Brown did have a sense for his place in the world thanks to racing, and continued working for Alexander, riding Asteroid and Maiden (dam of Hall of Famer Parole) and others until Alexander's death in 1867. Daniel Swigert, longtime farm manager at Woodburn, would leave two years later to launch Stockwood Stud, and Brown followed him. (Swigert would eventually be the great-grandfather of Spendthrift's Leslie Combs II and owned Elmendorf Farm, the precursor to Spendthrift.)

An 1864 painting by Edward Troye depicts Asteroid with his trainer Ansel Williamson (R), unidentified groom, and his jockey Edward Brown (L, kneeling).

Riding for Stockwood, Brown piloted stakes winners Virgil, Edinburgh, Blind Tom, and others. He entered the Triple Crown history books for the first time aboard Kingfisher, who he rode to victory in the 1870 Belmont Stakes, then held at 1 5/8 miles at Jerome Park.

Now in his twenties, Brown became too heavy to be a flat jockey and rode steeplechasers with some success for a couple of years before becoming a trainer for Swigert. His first success was with stakes winner King Alfonso (who would go on to sire winners of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont), followed by Bombay and Baden-Baden.

Swigert was in the habit of selling horses at the end of their juvenile seasons if they showed some promise on the racetrack, which often took the best horses out of Brown's barn before their strengths were fully realized. This was the case with Spendthrift, who Swigert sold for $15,000 as a 2-year-old before he won the 1879 Belmont and became the great-grandsire of Man o' War. Hindoo was also sold off by Swigert after showing success at two, and went on to win the Kentucky Derby.

In the case of Baden-Baden though, Brown got to have at least some of the glory. He saddled the son of Australian (GB) in the third Kentucky Derby, where he prevailed by two lengths. Soon after the race, Swigert sold Baden-Baden to William Astor for $12,000.

Brown eventually moved on to work for Col. Milton Young (who at one time kept his racehorses at McGranthiana, later renamed Maine Chance), bringing the Young stable to the fifth-leading owner in the country in 1881. He would also condition horses for R.C. Pate, Col. James E. Pepper, and W.S. Barnes (the latter two often racing in partnership as Melbourne Stable). He nearly won the Derby again in 1886, as trainer of Blue Wing but was edged out a nose by Ben Ali.

All the while, Brown was putting his money away. He was described, in the few news clippings which bothered to describe him, as a quiet person not given to gambling or other habits that necessitated big spending. He was happy to give a tip to friends and reporters when he felt good about one of his horses, but seemed uninterested in risk himself.

“You see one side of Brown Dick's character when questions of fact are disputed before the judges and men accept his word as weightier evidence than the affidavits of many men,” wrote the Louisville Courier-Journal. “Another side you see when a party of ladies and children visit the stables. Brown Dick is never happier than when his hat is doffed, he is leading them from stall to stall and answering their absurd questions, with gentleman courtliness worthy of a wigged and ruffled cavalier.”

Often painted as a somewhat hunched man, slowed by arthritis, often sporting a trademark blue and white coat flapping in the breeze by the rail, Brown was already known as a fixture on the racetracks in Central Kentucky. When he had saved up enough money, Brown made the transition that churns the stomach of any trainer – he decided to buy and train his own stock.

Brown zeroed in on Swigert's strategy of buying stock and selling them just as their careers were heating up. He paid $4,500 for Plaudit as a yearling and would sell him to John E. Madden for $6,500 after the horse built up a juvenile resume. Plaudit would become a Kentucky Derby winner and key stallion for Hamburg Place. Brown's greatest success however, was a yearling he picked out at the Runnymede Farm yearling sale in 1894 named Ben Brush.

Brown went in on the $1,200 yearling with trainer Eugene Leigh, as the two evidently agreed this made more sense than bidding against each other. Strangely, little seems to have been written about the partnership, which was somewhat unconventional for the time since Leigh was white.

By all accounts, Brown lost his heart to Ben Brush. One turfwriter depicts him outside his training barn one afternoon, carefully overseeing the horse's grazing with a combination of fondness and nerves familiar to any trainer who knows they have something special.

“He's my kind of horse,” Brown told the Louisville Courier-Journal. “I like these steady-headed, sensible colts. You know I don't bet, but don't forget little Ben when he starts. He's one of the best I ever handled.”

Brown and Leigh turned down several cash offers for Ben Brush but eventually yielded to a sum reported between $12,000 and $18,000 (between $310,000 and $466,000 today) after his first five starts as a juvenile. Ben Brush would also win the Kentucky Derby but really left his mark as a sire – he was leading sire of 1909 and is still prevalent in the far reaches of many modern champions' pedigrees.

At the turn of the century, Brown began struggling with tuberculosis and rheumatism. He was thought to have saved some $100,000 from his career on the racetrack, making him one of the wealthier black Americans of his time according to some newspaper reports. Brown died in 1906 at a fellow trainer's home in Louisville. Obituaries describe him as struggling with his health for several of his last years and noted that he was penniless at the time of his death, though it's unclear what happened to his fortune. A fund was started on the backstretch to help pay for his funeral, and at least one of his biggest competitors – a white owner named Ed Corrigan – was one the first contributors.

Brown was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1984. In 1999, a plaque was placed in Midway, Ky., where Brown was buried, to commemorate his accomplishments. Then-Gov. Brereton Jones was on hand for the dedication, which was covered by the Lexington Herald-Leader.

“Jones said that the racing industry didn't feel Brown's effect until years later, but that his voice is heard today,” wrote Travis Mayo. “'He speaks very loudly and clearly that this is the Thoroughbred capitol of the world and that anybody who is willing to work can be a success,' Jones said. 'Because if a black man in the midst of slavery can succeed at it, surely the rest of us as free people, who are inhibited only by our own lack of vision or lack of fortitude, can succeed.'”

The post Belmont History: Edward Brown Went From Slave To Jockey To Trainer To Owner In A Lifetime appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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