FREE press HHoorrssee RReevviieeww VOL. 28 • NO. 10 The Mid-South Equine Newsmagazine Since 1992 JUNE 2018 2. June, 2018 • ©Mid-South Horse review • www.midsouthhorsereview.com ON THE C OVEr : Zanjabeel with jockey ross geraghty, winner of the Horse Review 2018 calvin houghland Iroquois on saturday may 12. June 2018 Zanjabeel is owned by rosbrian farm, Wendy and Equus Charta, LLC benjamin h. griswold Iv. he is trained by ricky hen - Copyright 2018 contents • v ol . 28 • n o. 10 dricks. (photo by Nancy Brannon ) 6220 greenlee #4 p.o. box 594 arlington, tn 38002-0594 901-867-1755 PUBLISHEr & E DITOr : Tom & Dr. Nancy Brannon STAFF : Andrea Gilbert WEBSITE : www.midsouthhorsereview.com E- MAILS : midsouthhorsereview@ yahoo.com [email protected] Leonardo’s Horse, commissioned to ArTICLES & PHOTOS Leonardo da Vinci by the Duke of Milan Ludovico il Moro in 1482. 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June, 2018 • ©Mid-South Horse review • www.midsouthhorsereview. com Book & art nook sciousness of african americans. she moves from one dangerous murphy’s rise as the premier jockey of his situation to another, trying to day coincided with the many opportunities solve the mystery of who’s pos - that opened up for blacks in the postbellum sibly involved in fixing races, period during reconstruction. the facts that while a young jockey is pres - he was able to read and write from an early sured to lose races. age, gain access to the wealthiest americans the horses are quite the char - (who paid him well for his services), and use acters, too. there’s Wiggly Wab - his purchasing power as a capitalist made bit, a gray filly; Ziggy stardust, him a model for resistance to popular notions whom one has to threaten with a of black inferiority. as african americans rake to enter his stall or have “his like murphy gained both socially and finan - Review by Nancy Brannon teeth embedded in [one’s] arm.” there’s cially, it created a backlash among those with he Dark Side of Town (2018) is the power, which eventually forced them out of glow West, a chestnut, and best of all – second murder mystery by horse - many of the professions where they had t bionic, the fastest horse in the barn. woman and former amateur steeplechase made their mark. and then there’s the encounter with her In the spring of 1896, three months after jockey sasscer hill, featuring fia mcKee, mother – after a 17-year absence – that, at murphy’s death, the supreme court’s deci - a former baltimore police officer and now first, seems unrelated, until fia finds out sion in Plessy v. Ferguson institutionalized an undercover agent for the thoroughbred her mother is deeply involved with the Jim crow segregation. his death also racing protective bureau (trpb). her originator of the hedge fund. Legend of the marked the demise of the black jockey in first novel, Flamingo Road , is set at gulf - the one thing I worry about when there american horse racing. by the end of the stream park racetrack in florida, and this are unsavory characters using horses to century, only a handful of quality black jock - novel is set at saratoga racetrack in make lots of money for themselves is the Racetrack eys could be found on american racetracks. saratoga springs, nY. welfare of the horses. When the vet arrives exington, KY—With Keeneland’s great riders like anthony hamilton (1866– undercover agent fia mcKee, now of - and starts setting out vials of medicine, I lspring meet in full swing and the 1904), Willie simms (1870–1927), and ficially employed by the trpb as “fay,” wondered what drugs would be adminis - 144th Kentucky Derby on may 5th, the na - Jimmy Winkfield (1882–1974), the last is sent undercover to saratoga racetrack tered. they turn out to be “vitamins, per - tion’s attention is focused on thoroughbred black jockey to win the Kentucky Derby, to investigate mars pizutti, a racehorse mitted painkillers, and the diuretic lasix, were shut out by a system that favored white racing. the sport of Kings has a long and trainer whose horses’ wins are suspi - which was still legal in new York,” hill jockeys and wanted to rid the tracks of black storied history that is worth revisiting be - ciously lucky – and lucrative. fia’s bosses writes. still, there are questions about drug competition. eventually, all three would cause of what it reveals about our broader believe pizutti's success is based on illegal use, like corticosteroids and anabolic society. among the most famous early stars leave the united states to race in europe. drugs and deceitful methods, and they Drawing from legal documents, census steroids, “since pizutti’s horses had tested in the sport was Isaac burns murphy (1861– want fia to work inside his barn to ferret positive on race days before.” fortunately, 1896), one of the most dynamic jockeys of data, and newspapers, this comprehensive out the truth. the grooms in this novel are all devoted to his era. still considered one of the finest rid - profile explores how murphy epitomized the after witnessing the tragic and inexpli - giving good care for the horses in their ers of all time, murphy was the first jockey rise of the black middle class and contributed to the construction of popular notions about cable suicide of a jockey, “fay” discovers charge. to win the Kentucky Derby three times, and the rider’s death is only the tip on an ice - his 44 percent win record remains un - african american identity, community, and as “fay” uncovers one mob connection berg involving the mob, a crooked racing matched. Despite his success, murphy was citizenship during his lifetime. the legacy of after another, and is nearly drowned by a hedge fund, and threats to the lives of an - pushed out of thoroughbred racing when Isaac burns murphy is one of complex ori - mobster in lake Desolation, the tangled other jockey and his young sister. “fay” african american jockeys were forced off gins, a sense of purpose, and an extraordi - web of “dark money” leads her to people the track, and he died in obscurity. nary degree of intelligence. lexington, must find out who’s connected to whom, far more dangerous than pizutti. her final In The Prince of Jockeys: The Life of Kentucky is fortunate to have him as a model and what shadowy forces are at play be - encounter with the most dangerous mob - Isaac Burns Murphy, author pellom mc - of the best kind of nobility: humble, digni - fore someone else dies. sters ends in a most unexpected way – Daniels III offers the first definitive biogra - fied, human. this is a great read, especially for horse with the abused wife of one mobster get - phy of this celebrated athlete whose life About the author : pellom mcDaniels III racing season. hill keeps adding twists ting her freedom and the others learning a spanned the civil War, reconstruction, and is curator of african american collections and turns to the plot, which definitely cre - hard lesson at a shootout in an Italian the adoption of Jim crow legislation.