"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : Edward D Brown

Recently, the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby was held( the winners purse for the 2023 Kentucky Derby was “3 million dollars,” the highest purse in Triple Crown racing history ). While many Black People have heard about The Kentucky Derby, most of them do not know that “15” of the “FIRST 28” Kentucky Derby Race “WINNING JOCKEYS” were BLACK!Additionally, most Black People have never heard of Edward D Brown. Although he was born a slave in 1850[ in Fayette County, Kentucky ], he went on to become one of the wealthiest Negroes in the state of Kentucky! When Edward was only 7 years old, he and his cousin were sold to a White man named Robert Alexander. His owner had quite a number of horses which delighted young Edward. Since he had to feed the horses, he spent plenty of his time getting to know the horses.Soon he learned how to ride them as well. His owner took notice of Edward’s skill and enthusiasm in handling the horses. His owner decided to let Edward ride one of his horses{ a horse named Asteroid } in a horse race. To his owner’s surprise, Edward and Asteroid won 1st place! After the American Civil War ended and Edward was set free by his owner, he decided to continue working at his former owner’s horse stable. Along with riding several of Robert Alexander’s horses, he began training them as well( which allowed him to continue to work at the stables once his weight hindered him from being an effective jockey ). When his former owner died in 1867, Edward was offered a position as jockey for a White man name Daniel Swigert. He accepted the offer,and in 1870 he rode a horse name Kingfisher to victory at the “Belmont Stakes!” Edward was smart enough to save some of his earnings to eventually buy several horses of his own. He named his company, Ed Brown & Company. He mostly bred his horses and sold many of them to wealthy White businessmen. Many of the horses he sold went on to win important races such as the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes horse races. In the early 1890s, two of the horses that he owned[ a horse name Monrovia and a horse name Etta ] won the Kentucky Oaks Race. Other race horses that he trained were, Kentucky Derby winner Baden-Baden, Belmont Stakes winner Spendthrift, and the Hall of Fame race horse Hindoo. In 1903, due to his failing health, he reluctantly retired from the horse business. At the age of 56, Edward D Brown died on May 11,1906. In 1984, he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1984{ and in 1999, a plaque was placed in Midway, Kentucky where he is was buried, to commemorate his accomplishments}.