The Lost History of the African American Jockey

At Recreational Habits, we believe in telling the narratives of great Americans whose influence may have gone unrecorded due to their status at the time of their death. In exposing these people, we hope to inspire inclusive participation in historically exclusive sports and culture.

Before there were cars and planes to get us to where we wanted to go, we had horses. Horses were one of civilizations main modes of transport for centuries, ranging from horse drawn carriages, to riding on horseback, or using them to carry your belongings. Horses have always been around and so has natural competition, i.e., my house is bigger than your house, my sword is bigger than your sword, and of course, my horse is faster than your horse thus making horse racing inevitable. 

What began as an outlet for the elite and wealthy, in a neighbor verses neighbor ‘friendly’ showdown, was quickly ramped up when English Thoroughbreds were imported to America specifically to be bred as racing horses. Those that were able to afford horses and importing them were typically wealthy gentlemen landowners and farmers who knew how to ride, but did not want to spend their time cleaning the stalls, training the horses or even race them. Thus, prior to the Civil War, the job of caring for and riding the horses fell to the slaves working on the property. 

(Kentucky Derby, Archive Image)

This is not where the history between African slaves and horses begins, in fact, it can be dated back to the early 1200’s to the regions in West Africa and North Africa which was notable for their equestrianism. The slaves brought to the Americas from these regions were naturally skilled when working with horses and were assigned specific jobs catering to their knowledge.

Writer Katherine Mooney in her book Race Horse Men further highlights the strange dichotomy’s relationship between the slaves in the barn and their owners. The slaves that tended to the horses and raced them were extremely valuable to their owners and were respected for their knowledge. At the same time, they remained inferior to whites and by no means were granted their freedom. The threat of lynching was often used should a rider seem as though he did not put in his best effort in a race. Meanwhile, the slaves were putting money into their owner’s pockets by winning the races yet never received a piece of the purse.  

(Jimmy Winkfield)

In 1875 the first Kentucky Derby commenced and 13 of the 15 riders on the field were Black. Below are some pioneers in horse racing.

Isaac Burns Murphy (April 16, 1861 - February 12, 1896) is to this day considered the greatest American horse racer in history, winning the Kentucky Derby three times and his race records show a 44% winning victory rate, a statistic no rider has come close to passing yet!

Edward Dudley Brown (1850 – May 11, 1906) was born a slave and became a Belmont-Stakes winning jockey, a Kentucky Derby winning trainer and eventually a racehorse owner. He is inducted in the United States Racing Hall of Fame.

Eliza Carpenter (1851 – December 16th, 1924) was born a slave and went on to ride and win many horse races and owned several thoroughbred horses purchased with the money she earned from her wins.

Alonzo “Lonnie” Clayton (March 27th, 1876 – March 17, 1917) was described by author Edward Hotaling as, "one of the great riders of the New York circuit all through the 1890s". Clayton was an American jockey who continues to hold the record as the youngest jockey to ever win the Kentucky Derby.

Cheryl White (October 29, 1953 — September 20, 2019) was the first licensed African American female jockey and the first woman to serve as a California horse racing steward. At 17, White began her career riding for her father, trainer Raymond White, in June 1971. She went on to earn her first win as a jockey on September 3, 1971, riding Jetolara to victory at Waterford Park.

Since 1922, only two African American riders have had mounts in the race, Marlon St. Julien in 2000, and Kevin Krigger in 2013. Racism took on a new form in the early 20th century and black jockeys and trainers were replaced with whites and stable work or, as it is commonly referred to, ‘the backstretch’, was reassigned to other minority groups as the 1900’s rolled on. This pushed black jockeys and trainers out of the world of horse racing, when they had previously dominated the sport. Since 1909, there have been no African American jockeys that have won any major American Graded Stakes Race.

(Deshawn L. Parker)

While the sport has remained primarily whitewashed for the past 100 years, we at RH feel it’s necessary to highlight several black jockeys in history and also present day jockeys whose talents were foundational to the sport of Horse Racing. At Recreational Habits we believe that exposure is the key; without exposure the next generation of youth will never know about such sports and the history that people of color had in pioneering and building them. As Deshawn L. Parker said best, “I grew up on the racetrack and on the backside and that’s why I became a jockey. There were a lot of people back there who wanted to be a jockey and the backstretch is where they got their start. Now you don’t have a lot of Black families on the backside anymore, so you don’t have Blacks who want to be a jockey. You don’t get many people who didn’t grow up in racing who decide they want to be jockeys.”

Read on below for current African American jockeys who have made huge strides in modern day Horse Racing.

Deshawn L. Parker (born January 8th, 1971) is a two-time United States Champion thoroughbred horse racing jockey and has won over 5,000 races, a feat that has only been accomplished by 31 other riders in history! He grew up on the racetrack with his father, Daryl, working as a jockey agent.

Marlon St. Julien (born February 13th, 1972) is an American thoroughbred racer and professional equestrian who in 2000 was the first African American jockey to ride in the Kentucky Derby since 1921 when he placed seventh in the race.

Kevin Krigger is the second black jockey to race in the Kentucky Derby since 1921 and hails from the US Virgin Island of St. Croix.