The Kentucky Derby

532 Words2 Pages

One of the most famed horse races in the world, fans flock to Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky on the first Saturday in May to watch the most exciting two minutes in sports. The first racecourse was laid out in 1789 in Lexington, Kentucky. 100 years later, in 1875, Churchill Downs became the official home of the Kentucky Derby. The first Kentucky Derby race was run at one and a half miles in front of a 10,000 person crowd. Of the fifteen horses that competed in this race, the first winner was a horse named Aristides (Kentucky Derby History).
Aristides jockey was an African American man named Oliver Lewis. Thirteen of the fifteen jockeys that rode in the first Kentucky Derby were African American. Fifteen of the first twenty-eight derby races were won by an African American rider. As horseracing became a more popular sport at the beginning of the 20th century, African American were seen less as jockeys and more as stable hands. The last African American to win the Kentucky Derby was Jimmy Winkfield in the 1901 and 1902 races (African-Americans in Horse Racing). Another great ...

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