Jimmy Winkfield

Jimmy Winkfield
Winkfield aboard Alan-a-Dale in 1902
Personal information
BornApril 12, 1880[a]
Chilesburg, Kentucky
DiedMarch 23, 1974(1974-03-23) (aged 91)
Maisons-Laffitte, France
OccupationJockey
Spouse
Lydia de Minkiwitz
Horse racing career
SportHorse racing
Career wins2,600+
Major racing wins
Racing awards
Russian Champion Jockey (3 times)
Honors
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame (2004)
Jimmy Winkfield Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack
U.S. House of Representatives Resolution 231 honoring the life of Jimmy Winkfield
Significant horses
His Eminence, Alan-a-Dale, McChesney

James Winkfield (April 12, 1880[a] – March 23, 1974) was an American horse racing jockey who won the Kentucky Derby in 1901 and 1902, becoming the last African American rider to win that race. In 1903 he left the United States for Russia where he achieved major success. In 1917, Winkfield led an evacuation of 250 top pedigree race horses from Ukraine to Poland as Russian Revolutionary troops approached. He also won major races in Europe including in Poland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and France, with over 2,600 wins in his lifetime. Winkfield later settled in France and became a trainer.

Career

Winfield was born in Chilesburg, Kentucky (now part of Lexington, Kentucky) and began his career as a jockey in 1898 at age sixteen. His first racing start resulted in a four-horse accident right after the start, for which he was given a one-year suspension.[2][1]: 312  He returned in 1900 to ride Thrive in the Kentucky Derby, finishing third. He rode in the race again in 1901 and 1902, winning on His Eminence and Alan-a-Dale respectively. In 1901, he won 160 races. He competed in his final Derby in 1903, finishing second on Early.[2]

Winkfield was blackballed in the US after dishonoring a contract to ride for an owner by agreeing to ride for a different owner, but he was offered a chance to race in Russia in 1903,[3]: 116  where he quickly rose to fame.[4] He won the Russian Oaks five times,[b] the Russian Derby four times,[1]: 142–144, 150  the Czar's Prize on three occasions,[c] and the Warsaw Derby twice.[d]

The Russian Revolution caused him to leave the country in 1917, and he led an evacuation of 260 racehorses of the most valuable bloodlines from Odesa, Ukraine, trekking for three months on horseback to Warsaw, about 1,000 miles. Only 8–10 horses were lost on the journey.[e][f][5][1]: 162–168 [3]: 185–198 

Around 1920, he moved to France where he resumed racing, scoring numerous wins including the 1922 Prix Eugène Adam, the 1922 Grand Prix de Deauville, and the 1923 Prix du Président de la République.[6]

Winkfield had successful racing careers in Poland, Russia, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and France.[1]: 227 

He raced until 1930 when—at the age of fifty and with more than 2,600 wins to his credit—he began a second successful career as a horse trainer in France.[7][1]: 227 [8] Winkfield lived on a farm near the Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse on the outskirts of Paris.[1]: 212  He remained there until 1941 when Nazis took over his horse farm, after which he traveled to Lisbon and then to New York.[1]: 256–262  In 1953, he returned to the farm at Maisons-Laffitte where he lived until his death on March 23, 1974.[7]

Legacy and honors

In the US, Winkfield is remembered as the last African American to ride a winner in the Kentucky Derby (1902).[8]

While he was treated with respect in Europe, segregation still ruled American society. When Sports Illustrated invited Winkfield to a reception at the Brown Hotel in Louisville in 1961, he was told he could not enter by the front door. He was admitted after the magazine explained that he was an invited guest.[9][10] Winkfield made an appearance at the Kentucky Derby that year to celebrate 60 years since his historic victories.[1]: 292–294 

In 2004, he was inducted posthumously into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. The Jimmy Winkfield Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack is run in his honor. In 2005, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution honoring Winkfield. The full details can be read at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.[5]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Quote: "Through his thirties, Winkfield indicated he was born about 1880, but as we'll see, in his forties he began to take two years off his age, apparently to improve his chances of getting hired to ride. He would make his birth date April 12, 1882, but there are no other records confirming this."[1]: 300 
  2. ^ Winfield won the Russian Oaks in 1904, 1905, 1907, 1911 & 1912.[1]: 95, 108, 115, 135, 140 
  3. ^ Winfield won the Emperor's Prize, also known as the Czar's Prize, in 1905, 1907 & 1916.[1]: 108, 114, 150 
  4. ^ Winfield won the Warsaw Derby in 1904 & 1905.[1]: 93, 108 
  5. ^ Drape tells of 262 horses leaving Odesa and 252 arriving at Warsaw. Hotaling mentions 260 and 252.
  6. ^ Jockeys and racehorses in Russia routinely traveled seasonally between Moscow and St. Petersburg, sometimes by train and sometimes by foot. In 1915, Polish horseman Frederick Jurjevich, who was involved in racing in Warsaw, St Petersburg and Moscow, turned Odessa, Ukraine from a minor to a major racing center as an oasis away from the war fronts. Horse owners had been sending their racehorses to Odessa, and Winkfield was part of the migratory racing scene. In April 1917, the racing season was in Odessa when advancing troops reached the city.[3]: 188–189 

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Hotaling, Edward (2005). Wink: The Incredible Life and Epic Journey of Jimmy Winkfield. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-141862-8. OL 18468370M.
  2. ^ a b "James Winkfield, American Jockey". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  3. ^ a b c Drape, Joe (2006). Black Maestro : The Epic Life of an American Legend. William Morrow. ISBN 0-06-053729-9. OL 9232848M.
  4. ^ Brown, Diane T. (November 21, 2007). "Jimmy Winkfield (1882–1974)". BlackPast.org.
  5. ^ a b "James Winkfield". National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on January 18, 2026. Retrieved March 14, 2026.
  6. ^ Hotaling 2005, pp. 169–170, 185–187, 193–194, 210–211.
  7. ^ a b Eskenazi, Gerald (March 25, 1974). "Jimmy Winkfield, Jockey, Dies; Rode 2 Derby Winners in a Row". New York Times. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
  8. ^ a b Baskin, Andrew (2015). "Winkfield, James "Jimmy"". In Smith, Gerald L.; McDaniel, Karen Cotton; Hardin, John A. (eds.). The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia. University Press of Kentucky. p. 536. ISBN 9780813160658. OL 29277623M.
  9. ^ McKenzie, Sheena (February 22, 2013). "The forgotten godfathers of black American sport". CNN.
  10. ^ Winkler, Lisa K. (April 23, 2009). "The Kentucky Derby's Forgotten Jockeys". Smithsonian. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024. Retrieved April 12, 2010.

Further reading

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