The Prince of Jockeys

by Pellom McDaniels III

  From Louisville, Isaac traveled to Missouri for the St. Louis Jockey Club meeting from June 10 to 14, where he won two out of four races riding for James Williams, including the first race of the engagement on Checkmate. He left St. Louis and headed for the Chicago Jockey Club meeting, scheduled for June 21 to 27, where he won with S. and R. Weisiger's Incommode and finished in the money on L. P. Tarleton's Solicitor, D. McIntyre's King Faro, and Brien and Spencer's Captain Fred Rice. He then traveled to Michigan for the first meeting of the Detroit Jockey Club, held from July 1 to 4. That event promised to attract prominent “horses from Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee stables, as well as Martin & Baldwin's Pacific Stables.”110 Winning twice on the second day on Williams's Checkmate and Enquiress, Isaac swept the entire card the next day, riding to victory on Checkmate, Bonnie Oaks, and Glenmore twice. Two days later in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he came close to duplicating that success; he brought home three winners and might have swept the entire program if he had had a mount in the last race.111 Thus far, the 1879 campaign was Isaac's most successful to date.

  Because the spring and fall racing seasons overlapped, and because jockeys who were under contract went wherever their stables sent them, they had little time to explore the communities they visited. Local entertainments and cultural events may have been plentiful and attractive to a young bachelor, but after competing on the track, he was likely ready for bed. Opportunities for companionship may have been limited for Isaac: another train ride, another city, another boardinghouse, another paddock, another paycheck—and another woman? It is possible that Isaac had sexual relationships before he married, but abstinence would also make sense, considering the racial uplift programs promoting temperance, abstinence, and community building through achievement.

  During Reconstruction, African American community leaders advocated abstinence as a demonstration of civility, Christian morals and values, and a progressive orientation toward the future. As historian Michelle Wallace explains, African Americans worked hard to “construct themselves as members of [a] collectivity not just because they and their forebears shared a past, but also because they believed their futures to be interdependent.”112 This somewhat magical disposition allowed individuals to claim their humanity not only through their personal achievements but also, in the case of black men, through their public exhibitions of Christian uprightness, temperance, and gentlemanly decorum that represented the progress of blacks as a whole. What better crusader for morality than Isaac—a man-child who entered the lion's den every day of the racing season and emerged not only unscathed but seemingly strengthened by confronting his temptations? This, of course, is problematic: we cannot know what Isaac did in private. The prevalence of public teetotalers who drink in private and ministers who sin is a clear indication that some performances are for public consumption, while others are private, reserved for personal scrutiny, self-critique, and self-judgment.

  As monotonous as the life of a jockey might sound, it was a great opportunity for a talented young man to see the country and, if good fortune was on his side, make enough money to marry, settle down, and perhaps have a string of horses to run. This may have crossed the eighteen-year-old's mind now and again, as he imagined what his future would look like when he got too big to ride.

  By the fall of 1879, Isaac was a rising star and no newcomer to Saratoga Springs. His 1877 race on Vera Cruz had created quite a stir among patrons of the turf, who caught a glimpse of a new type of jockey who was intelligent, calm, patient, and disciplined. He gained the attention of some of the most powerful breeders in the East, whose jockeys failed to match Isaac's single-minded focus on his work. When he arrived at Saratoga in 1879, what were the spectators anticipating from Murphy? Surely, they had read the newspapers and were aware of his dominance at Louisville, Detroit, and Milwaukee races. They may have had a pretty good idea of the outcome, but like any race, nothing was certain.

  On June 16, a full month before the races opened at Saratoga, Eli Jordan and the Hunt-Reynolds stable arrived to begin training for the meeting. Sometime after his last race in Wisconsin, Isaac boarded an eastbound train headed for New York.113 What were traveling conditions like for Isaac? In those cities and towns that drew the color line, they could have been almost anything—from riding in unsafe and unsavory conditions to being ejected from his seat by a white man unwilling to sit in the same car with a black man—even (or perhaps especially) one who seemed to be a social equal or a middle-class professional. Anything other than the stereotypical “coon” or “Sambo” could be an affront to a white man's sense of privilege. In the 1870s and 1880s numerous legal actions were brought against railroads for not protecting the rights of black passengers or for actively enforcing separate car policies by denying blacks access to available seating.

  By the time Isaac arrived in Saratoga, the resort town was a crush of humanity—white women dressed in the latest fashions from Europe, wealthy men holding court on the piazzas of the various hotels, and sporting men looking to fill their pockets with winnings based on hot tips and inside information.114 On Saturday, July 19, the weather was lovely, the track was in good condition, and the crowd was anxious for the first race to begin. Along with the white visitors, “African American tourists and conventioneers” participated in the festivities where they could, enjoying the benefits of their wealth and mixing with other middle-class strivers, rubbing elbows—both literally and figuratively—with the obscenely rich. It is safe to assume that all were looking forward to the day's main event—the prestigious Travers Stakes—and the performance of Spendthrift, the new prize of New York financier and turfman James R. Keene. White society may have considered blacks second-class citizens, and some excluded their darker brothers from the human race altogether, but everyone at Saratoga agreed that the little jockey from Kentucky was exciting to watch, especially when he won such big races with such uncommon style. After the Travers, however, horse-racing fans talked about Isaac Murphy with new enthusiasm:

  In 1879, the last year in which the owners of the great racing stables of the seaboard met at Saratoga in force, at the time when George Lorillard's Sensation, Grenada, and Rosalie came in first, second, and third in the Flash Stakes, a chunky colored boy appeared with quiet old Eli Jordan, the able trainer for J. W. Hunt-Reynolds of Kentucky. A large delegation of New Yorkers had come to back Spendthrift for the Travers, the three year old event of the year. While the applause which greeted Spendthrift was making the great colt prick his ears, the colored boy appeared on Falsetto. The way the boy handled Falsetto and won the race attracted the attention of turfmen from all sections. The Kentuckians were wild with joy; they threw their hats in the air and carried off the coveted trophy from its pedestal in front of the grandstand. The lad repeated his victory by winning the Kenner Stakes, at two miles, on Falsetto. The boy's name is Isaac Murphy. He has had remarkable success on the turf.115

  Spendthrift, the favorite, was a quality Thoroughbred born on Daniel Swigert's farm outside Lexington and purchased by Keene for $15,000 after the colt went undefeated as a two-year-old. But in the end, it was the quality of the jockey that mattered most. New York had become the showplace for two of Kentucky's most prized exports: fast horses and brilliant jockeys. Eighteen-year-old Isaac guided Falsetto to a two-length victory over Spendthrift, ridden by Feakes. In a postrace interview that appeared in Spirit of the Times, we get a glimpse of Murphy's thoughtfulness and intellect:

  I met Murphy, who rode…[Falsetto]. He is a bright youth, and although his winter weight was over 130 lbs., he can under the reducing process, ride at 105 lbs. I inquired of him what were his instructions in the race, and he said:

  “I had no instructions, except that I was to win the race.”

  “With such instructions, do you not think you laid away rather far for the first mile?”

  “Well, I don't know sir. I wanted a waiting race. I thought Spendthrift was the horse [I] had to beat. I did not know about Harold, but I believed that my horse
could win from either of them if I could get the race put upon a brush down the homestretch, and I kept away from them to keep them from becoming alarmed. I was always within striking distance, and you know when Spendthrift went away down the backstretch I was ready for the move.”

  “Yes, that is true, but why did you go up to Harold and Jericho, at the half mile, and then fall away again?”

  “I did not care for Jericho, but while I thought Spendthrift was the dangerous horse, I wanted to go up to Harold to see how he felt, so I tapped Falsetto with the spur one time, went up to them, felt of Harold, found him all abroad, sprawling over the course, and saw he was out of the race, and I fell back to keep Feakes from thinking I was at all dangerous.”

  “How did you get between Harold and the pole on the turn?”

  “I didn't intend to go upon the turn, but when we started toward the stretch Harold was tired and unsteady, and he leaned away from the pole and gave me room to go in. I thought it better to run for the position than to have to run around him, so I jumped at the chance and went up between him and the rail. I steadied my horse here a moment to compel Harold to cover more ground on the turn, and beat him good, for he was very tired, and just before we got to the stretch I left him and went off after Spendthrift.”

  “Where did you catch him?”

  “Just after we got straight into the stretch.”

  “Did you have to punish Falsetto?”

  “As I tell, when I went up to Harold at the half mile, I hit him one with the spur. Then when I ran between Harold and the pole I gave it to him again. When I got to Harold, I laid there a little while, and kept touching my colt with the right spur, to keep him from bearing out to Harold, and also to make him hug the pole. He is a long strider, and is inclined to lean out on the turns. I kept the spurs pretty busy in him until I got to Spendthrift. Here Feakes drew his whip, and Spendthrift refused to respond to it. So I stopped and let Falsetto come along, but I kept urging him with the reins. He moved so strong that I did not have to punish him any more.”

  “Is Falsetto a free mover?”

  “No, sir, not generally. He does not run on the bit, but ran better on it today than I ever knew him. He held it till I hit him with the spur the first time—the end of a mile and a quarter. He turned it loose as soon as he felt it and never took hold of it again.”116

  This exchange between Isaac and the reporter reveals three important aspects of the race: he knew his horse, he knew the other horses in the field, and he knew himself. His skill and his knowledge of how to ride races, not just run horses, gave him a distinct advantage over the other jockeys. Most impressive was the way he directed and orchestrated the outcome of the race, calmly calculating his options with a “steady hand, a quick eye, a cool head, and a bold heart.”117 Also impressive was his command of the English language, his confidence, and his intellect, which could not have been cultivated in the stables among the horses and the waifs attending them. For that, Isaac had his mother and Lexington's black community to thank.

  Through his performances on the track and in the media, Isaac attracted a following among the throngs of Victorian groupies in the stands, who idolized the wealthy owners and patrons, and among horse-racing fans, who read the newspapers to keep up with his results. His success also attracted the attention of sporting men who were willing to pay jockeys to manipulate races and change the outcome. According to his obituary, Isaac was offered “enough [money] to buy a Bluegrass farm if he would have agreed to lose on Falsetto in the Kenner Stakes,” three weeks after his win on Falsetto in the Travers.118 As far as we know, Isaac did not take the money; instead, he guided Falsetto to another win over Spendthrift.

  Although jockeys were not considered professionals in the same sense as doctors, lawyers, politicians, and businessmen, it took considerable skill to ride races. With his performances and his interviews, Isaac was elevating the profession through his representation of muscular Christianity, honesty, and consistency. Murphy's standards, his artistic approach, and his professionalism may have challenged the definition of both jockeys and their work.

  During the Saratoga races, Isaac wore the colors of his two most consistent benefactors, James T. Williams and J. W. Hunt-Reynolds, and he attracted the attention of Californian E. J. Baldwin, whose horses finished poorly at the meeting. Winning races consistently with style and grace in front of the wealthiest men in America would be to his advantage as the new decade began. But sadly, while Isaac was at Saratoga his mother, America, died.

  The Fayette County commissioner's supplemental schedule of recorded deaths from June 1879 to May 1880 lists the death of America Burns in August 1879 of complications related to consumption and cancer of the rectum.119 It is hard to imagine how she must have suffered, but nineteenth-century cases studies of women being treated for rectal cancer are revealing. Walter Harrision Cripps describes a woman who could have been America: “She was very thin and emaciated, and for some time had been unable to work as a laundress. For more than a year she suffered discomfort in the rectum, and had lost blood from time to time, a muco-purulent discharge being persistent. During the last few months the pain had greatly increased, her nights were sleepless, she was tormented with the constant desire to go stool.”120

  The form that reports America's death contains invaluable information: her age, her race, where she and her parents were born, the cause of death, and the attending physician. What it does not tell us is where she died. Did she die in a hospital or in an alleyway? Who discovered her body? And finally, who contacted her son? Did he receive a telegram informing him of his loss? Did he share his grief with Eli Jordan, a minister in Lexington or Frankfort, J. W. Hunt-Reynolds, or one of his fellow jockeys, like William Walker?

  Surely America was proud of her sole surviving child. We can only imagine that as she took her last breath, she was confident that her boy would be all right. He was educated, independent, and successful; his character, honesty, self-effacing nature, congenial demeanor, and altogether cheerful outlook on life were imprints of America Murphy Burns, her family's history, and her wishes for her son's future. Where she is buried and who attended the service are not known. Even Isaac and his magical disposition could not save his mother or himself from falling through the cracks of American history, with its tendency to make invisible the stories at the root of African American success and achievement.

  Despite the loss of his mother, Isaac ended the year on a positive note, winning the St. Leger on G. W. Darden's Lord Murphy and finishing in the money in six of seven races at Louisville. After returning to Frankfort, to the home he shared with Eli Jordan and several others, Isaac likely reflected on all that had happened, perhaps turning to his mentor and surrogate father for support. Being a thoughtful person, he may have kept a journal where he recorded his meditations on life, along with information about his number of wins, the character of the horses he rode, the different cities and horse tracks he visited, and new acquaintances he made. At Fleetwood Stock Farm, J. W. and Meta Hunt-Reynolds may have consoled their young employee, whom they had grown close to. Having lost his own mother at an early age, J. W. may have helped Isaac deal with his grief. Acknowledging that children honor their parents by fulfilling their dreams for their offspring, the men may have discussed the finer points of what it meant to be a man in nineteenth-century America. Although their friendship would have been problematic for a number of reasons linked to the history of slavery, white supremacy, and the persistence of violence against blacks, J. W. and Isaac may have found common ground that allowed them to go beyond a formal employer-employee relationship or one based on the social construction of race and the definitions of black and white. An indirect result of this fostered kinship tie would be Isaac's formulation of a new black masculinity. Black jockeys of his generation could enjoy the elevated status of professional men who joined social clubs, served as community leaders, and represented the best class of citizen. Professionalization supported class stratification and dev
elopment, which legitimized citizenship for some but barred others from participating.

  Professionalization of what had been deemed “slave work” during the antebellum period and “nigger work” during Reconstruction dramatically changed the notion of how a jockey should act both in and out of the saddle. Isaac won the respect of owners and spectators, who had grown to expect and appreciate his measured riding and exciting finishes. They respected how he went about his work, and they enjoyed watching him perform. Still, Isaac was no doubt aware of the widespread perception of African American men as holdovers from slavery and a problem to be dealt with by the rope or the lash. But Isaac, who was better educated than the average black or white man, used his facility with language to explode the caricatures that represented black men as half-witted, effete, and inconsequential to the outcome of important events. Even in the midst of the success enjoyed by Isaac and other black jockeys such as William Walker, Oliver Lewis, James “Soup” Perkins, and Anthony Hamilton, images of stereotypical “colored boys” riding hoses began to appear more frequently as advertisements and reminders of the preferred social, political, and economic status of black men in America. Fortunately, Isaac was just getting started.

  Drawing on the example of successful blacks in Lexington, Louisville, and Frankfort, Isaac understood that achievement and will alone could not refute and deny the imposition and audacity of white supremacy. One had to refine, reform, and represent oneself in society. However, very few black jockeys were able to win over the public with the charm and gentlemanly sensibilities Isaac conveyed by the way he dressed, his body language, and his reserved air of confidence and humility. Clearly, Isaac believed that being successful required discipline. This understanding helped him shape his ideas about himself and make plans for a future beyond the saddle that would include marriage, children, the purchase of real estate, and ownership of a string of horses. But in addition to mastering the necessary riding skills, Isaac would have to master himself and the ever-present temptations in the burgeoning spectacle of horse racing.