First Kentucky Derby: Thirteen Black Jockeys, One Shady Owner, and the Little Red Horse That Wasn't Supposed to Win by Mark Shrager
Mark Shrager . Unknown Year . English
Today’s Kentucky Derby is a multi-million-dollar spectacle incorporating corporate sponsorship, worldwide media coverage, and an annual citywide festival in Louisville, Kentucky. Over its nearly century-and-a-half, 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, 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-Americans 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 plot hatched by the winning horse’s owner to fix the race, and the prominent role played by African-Americans in Gilded Age racing culture―a holdover from pre-emancipation days, when slaves would be trained from birth to ride for their wealthy owners, and would grow up surrounded by the horses that would be their life’s work.
Categories: Life Sciences
About the Author
Born and raised in southern California, Mark Shrager quickly discovered a love of history and a love of thoroughbred racing. These are brought together in The Great Sweepstakes of 1877. Mr. Shrager's first racetrack sojourns occurred during his teen years at Del Mar, Santa Anita and Hollywood Park. During this time, Mr. Shrager learned that while one could never be assured of a winning day at the races, a profit could be wrung from the ponies with sufficient knowledge and effort. It was in 1969, while still a junior at UCLA, that Mr. Shrager won $1,600 at Santa Anita, enough to purchase his first car. With this event, Mr. Shrager was a confirmed lifetime fan of the Sport of Kings. After graduation from UCLA in 1970,Mr. Shrager began his career in the field of education finance in 1972. He served for 37 years in the Budget Division of a large metropolitan school district, eventually reaching the position of Deputy Budget Director. Mr. Shrager’s avocation during this time was that of freelance turfwriter, and between 1972 and 2015 he published several hundred articles in magazines such as Turf & Sport Digest, American Turf Magazine (ATM), and others. His 1974 article, “1,001 Surefire Ways to Lose a Horse Race,” was published in the annual Best Sports Stories anthology. Retiring from the education finance field in 2008, Mr. Shrager expanded his freelance magazine-writing commitments and self-published three books of Breeders’ Cup handicapping information: Conquering the Cup (2012, ISBN No. not applied for), Cash In On The Cup (2013, ISBN No. 978-0615878355), and another Cash In On The Cup (2015, ISBN No. not applied for). Based on a 28-part series in American Turf Magazine, he produced a book, Superhorse: The Search for America’s Greatest Racehorse, that is yet to be published. Seven years of research, including stretches at the Keeneland Library in Kentucky and at the Library of Congress, have led to The Great Sweepstakes of 1877.
