The Kentucky Derby
Title | The Kentucky Derby PDF eBook |
Author | James C. Nicholson |
Publisher | University Press of Kentucky |
Pages | 298 |
Release | 2012-03-15 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 0813135761 |
Provides a complete history of the Kentucky Derby, examining the tradition, spectacle, culture and evolution of an event that has marveled America--and the world--for more than 130 years.
Black Winning Jockeys in the Kentucky Derby
Title | Black Winning Jockeys in the Kentucky Derby PDF eBook |
Author | James Robert Saunders |
Publisher | McFarland |
Pages | 143 |
Release | 2015-10-03 |
Genre | Sports & Recreation |
ISBN | 1476616698 |
Oliver Lewis was champion jockey of the Kentucky Derby in 1875 with a winning race time of two minutes and 37 seconds. Jockey Willie Simms won in 1896, bringing his horse in at two minutes and seven seconds. James Winkfield was the winning jockey in both 1901 and 1902 with winning race times of two minutes and seven seconds and two minutes and eight seconds, respectively. Each of these men possessed the skill and power necessary to spur a horse to glorious victory. All are members of the small, select group of Derby-winning jockeys who were African Americans. The stakes were high: Black jockeys who won a race in the late 1700s and 1800s sometimes won freedom from slavery as well. This work examines the presence of black jockeys in the Kentucky Derby, from the first instance of slaves working as stable hands and tending their masters' horses to the first black jockey to win the prestigious Kentucky Derby in 1875 and the continued participation of black jockeys in the Kentucky Derby. Black owners and trainers in the Kentucky Derby are also discussed. Three appendices list black winning jockeys, black trainers and black owners of Kentucky Derby horses.
The Kentucky Derby, the First 100 Years
Title | The Kentucky Derby, the First 100 Years PDF eBook |
Author | Peter Chew |
Publisher | |
Pages | 328 |
Release | 1974 |
Genre | Sports & Recreation |
ISBN |
Sir Barton and the Making of the Triple Crown
Title | Sir Barton and the Making of the Triple Crown PDF eBook |
Author | Jennifer S. Kelly |
Publisher | University Press of Kentucky |
Pages | 300 |
Release | 2019-05-03 |
Genre | Sports & Recreation |
ISBN | 0813177189 |
The true story of a forgotten champion: “Bringing Sir Barton out from the shadows, Jennifer Kelly restores him to a richly-deserved spotlight.” ―Dorothy Ours, author of Man o’ War He was always destined to be a champion. Royally bred, with English and American classic winners in his pedigree, Sir Barton shone from birth, dubbed the “king of them all.” But after a winless two-year-old season and a near-fatal illness, uncertainty clouded the start of Sir Barton’s three-year-old season. Then his surprise victory in America’s signature race, the Kentucky Derby, started him on the road to history, where he would go on to dominate the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, completing America’s first Triple Crown. His wins inspired the ultimate chase for greatness in American horse racing and established an elite group that would grow to include legends like Citation, Secretariat, and American Pharoah. After a series of dynamic wins in 1920, popular opinion tapped Sir Barton as the best challenger for the wonder horse Man o’ War, and demanded a match race to settle once and for all which horse was the greatest. That duel would cement the reputation of one horse for all time and diminish the reputation of the other for the next century—until now. Sir Barton and the Making of the Triple Crown is the first book to focus on Sir Barton, his career, and his historic impact on horse racing. Jennifer S. Kelly uses extensive research and historical sources to examine this champion’s life and achievements. Kelly charts how Sir Barton broke track records, scored victories over other champions, and sparked the yearly pursuit of Triple Crown glory.
The Last Black King of the Kentucky Derby
Title | The Last Black King of the Kentucky Derby PDF eBook |
Author | Crystal Hubbard |
Publisher | |
Pages | 0 |
Release | 2008 |
Genre | African American jockeys |
ISBN | 9781584302742 |
Born into an African American sharecropping family in 1880s Kentucky, Jimmy Winkfield grew up loving horses. The large, powerful animals inspired little Jimmy to think big. Looking beyond his family's farm, he longed for a life riding on action-packed racetracks around the world. Like his hero, the great Isaac Murphy, Jimmy "Wink" Winkfield would stop at nothing to make it as a jockey. Though his path to success was wrought with obstacles both on the track and off, Wink faced each challenge with passion and a steadfast spirit. Along the way he carved out a lasting legacy as one of history's finest horsemen and the last African American ever to win the Kentucky Derby. The Last Black King of the Kentucky Derby brings to life a vivacious hero from a little-known chapter of American sports history. Readers are transported trackside to witness the heart-pounding story of a vibrant young man chasing down his dream.
The First Kentucky Derby
Title | The First Kentucky Derby PDF eBook |
Author | Mark Shrager |
Publisher | Rowman & Littlefield |
Pages | 289 |
Release | 2023-05-01 |
Genre | Sports & Recreation |
ISBN | 1493075543 |
Today’s Kentucky Derby is a multimillion-dollar spectacle involving corporate sponsorship, worldwide media coverage, and an annual citywide festival in Louisville. Over its nearly century-and-a-half history, the Kentucky Derby has grown to be one of the biggest sporting events of the year, attracting 150,000 spectators at the track and nearly 15 million television viewers on the first Saturday each May. But 1875, the year of the first Derby, was a different time. The Louisville Jockey Club track, which would one day bear the name “Churchill Downs,” was a small structure that might, on its best day, provide seating and standing room for 12,000 spectators. The grandstand was plain and functional and included a section reserved for bookmakers, whose trade was legal and who operated in the open. Perhaps most significantly, the majority of jockeys in the race were Black, in stark contrast to the present-day Derby, where participation by African-American jockeys is rare. In The First Kentucky Derby, racing historian Mark Shrager examines the events leading up to the first “Run for the Roses,” the unsuccessful effort that the winning owner might have made to rig the race for his preferred horse, and the prominent role played by African Americans in Gilded Age racing culture—a holdover from pre-emancipation days, when slaves were trained from birth to ride for their wealthy owners and grew up surrounded by the horses that would be their life’s work.
History of the Kentucky Derby, 1875-1921
Title | History of the Kentucky Derby, 1875-1921 PDF eBook |
Author | John Lawrence O'Connor |
Publisher | |
Pages | 152 |
Release | 1921 |
Genre | Horse racing |
ISBN |