By Don Valentine
“The Sport of Kings” gained its moniker because of the British royalty and aristocrats’ love of thoroughbred racing. When horse racing came to America, an unexpected phenomenon was discovered. Over the course of generations, slaves groomed the horses, performing tasks like cleaning, feeding, exercising, brushing, clipping, and hoof care. Cheryl Brown annotated in Black History & Politics, “Because of the amount of time Blacks spent with the horses, Black riders had a superior connection with the horses compared to the White riders and trainers of their horses.”
A little-known fact is that Black jockeys won 15 of the first 28 Kentucky Derbies, held from its beginning in 1875 to 1903. Ebony Magazine wrote, “Most people have no idea of the significance of African American jockeys. This rich history has been pushed to the background like many other accomplishments.”
The first of the heralded Kentucky Derby races was won in 1875 by a young 19-year-old Black man, Oliver Lewis. The race had an impromptu ending because the plan was for Oliver to set a fast pace, tire out the field, and then pull back to allow his stablemate, Chesapeake, to win. William Henry, the rider of Chesapeake, was also a Black man. When Chesapeake fell back in the pack, Oliver changed the plan, urging Aristides ahead to win the first Derby and earning a place in racing history. The preponderance of Black riders winning races across the country, and most importantly the Kentucky Derby, became the bane of the White owners. This would not be tolerated in the Jim Crow era, and bold, subversive steps were taken to stop the Black jockeys.
Systemic racism at Churchill Downs was employed in a highly unsportsmanlike manner to eliminate Black riders. Emboldened by Jim Crow, white jockeys forced Black riders off the track. By 1900, these jockeys conspired to exclude their Black counterparts, utilizing dangerous tactics such as boxing them in, causing crashes, and physically assaulting them during races, which resulted in severe injuries and fatalities. By 1904, these pernicious tactics eliminated Black jockeys from racing. This absence persisted for 76 years until 2000, when Marlon St. Julien became the first Black jockey in the Kentucky Derby. Sadly, this is yet another vital piece of Black history that has been unjustly erased.
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