Beshear kicks off Kentucky Derby week by honoring Black contributions to horse racing
When Aristides crossed the finish line to become the first winner of the Kentucky Derby in 1875, Oliver Lewis was on the mount, guiding him to victory.
Lewis was among the Black jockeys who won 15 of the first 28 runnings of the Kentucky Derby before racism and discrimination forced them off the track in the early 20th century.
On Monday, Gov. Andy Beshear Monday kicked off Derby Week by highlighting Black contributions to horse racing and the industry’s history of discrimination, signing a proclamation honoring the Ed Brown Society — a group that celebrates the history of Black people in horse racing and attempts to create job opportunities in the industry for Black Kentuckians.
The society is named after Ed Brown, who was born a slave in Lexington and later became a jockey, Kentucky Derby-winning trainer and Kentucky Oaks-winning owner before he died in 1906.
“Beginning Derby Week this way is an acknowledgment that we need to do better,” Beshear said. “But also about intentionality of taking steps to make sure the Kentucky Derby and thoroughbred racing are for everyone and that everyone is included at all levels: employment, ownership, all levels.”
The industry has long struggled with diversity, particularly in the Kentucky Derby, horse racing’s highest-profile race.
Greg Harbut, one of the founders of the Ed Brown Society, was the only Black owner of a horse in the 2020 Kentucky Derby. Harbut’s experience last year was much different than that of his grandfather, who wasn’t allowed in the stands to watch Touch Bar, a horse he bred and owned, compete in the 1962 Kentucky Derby.
Kendrick Carmouche is scheduled to ride Bourbonic in this year’s race, which would make him the first Black jockey in the Kentucky Derby since 2013.
Ray Daniels, the president of the Ed Brown Society, said the group is trying to help Black people get jobs at all levels in the industry and that the organization has guided 30 Black people into horse ownership in the past few years.
“We want to focus on the past, we want to focus on the present and we want to focus on the future,” Daniels said in the Capitol Rotunda Monday. “And in the past, we want to acknowledge, educate about the wonderful history of African Americans in horse racing in our great state.”
Outside of the 2020 Kentucky Derby, which was run in September and didn’t allow fans, people protested over Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old who was shot and killed by the Louisville Police Department while they were executing a warrant on her apartment in the middle of the night.
Over the past few years, there has been a discussion over whether the state song — My Old Kentucky Home — should be played before the big race because of its rosy portrayal of slavery.
When asked whether the song should still play, Beshear dodged the question.
“I think that’s at least a discussion we should at least continue to have,” he said. “I think we ought to be willing to hear everybody out about what it means to them, how it impacts them. I think it’s a longer conversation though than just this next week.”
This story was originally published April 26, 2021 at 2:57 PM.
