Issac “Ike Murphy” and Jimmy Winkfield: Two Legendary Jockeys

Issac “Ike Murphy” (left) and Jimmy Winkfield (right)

Several years ago, I wrote a booklet on the life of Isaac Murphy who made history by winning famous races in the Kentucky Derby. He was believed to be one of the greatest jockeys of all times. He won 628 races out of 1, 412 races. He won the Kentucky Derby three times—1884, 1890, and 1891. His father James Burns was a bricklayer who died as a prisoner in the Civil War. His mother did laundry for the owner of the Owings and Williams Racing stables. Isaac was able to learn about horses and soon started racing. His mother changed his last name to Murphy to honor her father.

When Issac was 14, he won his first race on a horse named Glentina. He almost missed his first Kentucky win. He later rode a horse named Buchan an and the horse nearly threw him off. Isaac told the owners he did not want to ride Buchanan, but they insisted, and Isaac won the famous race for the first time. He became a very successful jockey in the 1880s. In 1882, he won 49 out of 51 races in Saratoga, New York. He won the Latonia Derby in 1887. And he won the American Derby in Chigago four times. In 1890 and 1891, he won even more races. He won a horse named Riley in 1890 and King man in 1891.

Isaac won a race against his rival Ed “Snapper” Garrison in Sheephead Bay in New York City. Garrison, a white jockey who was known for winning races by pulling ahead at the very last minute. In this race, Murphy and Gar rison stayed neck to neck for most of the race. Murphy steadily matched Garrison’s pace. He was not able to gain any ground. Murphy won the race by a head.

Jockeys were usually short people who did weigh very much. Isaac has trouble keeping his weight down. He would diet often, and the constant weight loss made him weak. In 1895, he caught pneumonia. He died on February 12, 1896, at the age of only 35. He left his wife Lucy $30,000. His record of three Kentucky wins remained unbroken until 1948. He was elected to the Jockey Hall of Fame in 1956.

After I wrote this booklet about Isasc Murphy I discovered another Black jockey named Jimmy Winkfield. He became popular in Europe. There were other Black jockeys but due to prejudice and envy of the white jockeys, they had a hard time in this country. Whenever we hear of the Kentucky Derby their names are not mentioned. In Europe, racing was known as the sport of Kings. Races in Europe were recorded as early as 1665. Jimmy Winkfield received numerous threats when he came to the United from groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.

In part two of this article, I will describe the life of Jimmy Winkfield. This is an example of the fact that so much of our history has been hid den. He was called Wink and raced successfully throughout Europe. He became fluent in several languages. He had 2,600 victories to his credit. When he returned to the United States to attend a Kentucky Derby banquet, he was not let into the hall.