BHS Day 20: Isaac Murphy

Hi! For the third week of our Sports Spotlight, I thought I'd go for something that I knew little to nothing about and that brought me to race jockeys. I had no idea that the sport was previously dominated by Black jockeys, and reading about today's featured star was a lot of fun for me as a result. Let's get to the Spotlight!

Source

Name: Isaac Murphy, 1861-1896 Profession: Professional race jockey Why is the Spotlight on him today? For his achievements in the world of professional race jockeys Accomplishments: --Was the first jockey to win two Kentucky Derby titles in back-to-back years
--Created a record with his Derby wins that took decades to be matched
--At one time, was the first and only jockey to win the Kentucky Derby, the Kentucky Oaks, and the Clark Stakes in the same meeting
--Was the posthumous namesake for an award given out to jockeys with the highest winning percentage in a year
--At his prime, was the highest-paid athlete in the country
--Was the first jockey to win three Kentucky Derby titles --Was the first jockey inducted into the Jockey Hall of Fame  --To date, still has one of the best riding averages of all time
--Was the posthumous namesake of a memorial park built for the celebration of Black jockeys 
Further reading links:
Black Past | LA Sentinel

From the sources that I read, Isaac Murphy's initial winning record was later recalculated due to the improbability of a jockey ever having that high of a winning percentage, but even the recalculated number did little to take away from his skill and win count. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful black jockeys of all time, and another jockey who would later become one of the greats counted Isaac among his main motivators to join the sport. As always, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you tomorrow!