Isaac Burns Murphy

Ide the beat Prince Jockey – Isaac Burns Murphy
Isaac Burns Murphy
Isaac Burns Murphy

The headstones – cracked chipped and crumpled
Scattered sporadically is disregard of his legacy
Mold and wind ate away @ the stone w/
The faded inscriptions and wiped away
So the names emerge
Murphy – in African Cemetery Two – in a
Forgotten Kentucky burial for horse trainers
And jockeys
Where fans flock by the millions eager to watch
Thoroughbreds streak down the race track
In the 145th Kentucky Derby little attention
Is paid to the black equestrians who paved the
Way for the industry since the – 1800’s
After the Civil War, most horse trainers
Grooms were black men – as were the jockeys
Of 28 winning jockeys in the Derby –
15 were black by the 1900’s Jim Crow pushed
More brothers out of the sport
Beginning in 1922 and the decades following
Black jockeys were few and marginalization
That continued to – 2000
When Marlon St. Julien rode in the Derby
Kevin Krigger finished @ the bottom to the pack
In 2013 –
In that same cemetery, in a thick clump of grass
Stands a red and black old-style burial marker
Of Isaac Burns Murphy –
Murphy – who competed 11 times in the Derby
Died of a heart failure in 1896 winning
The Derby in 1884, 1890 and 91 for decades
Known as one of the best jockeys and for
His honesty offered bribes to lose but
He refused –

Prince Jockey – Isaac Burns Murphy
Isaac Burns Murphy

Prince Jockey – Isaac Burns Murphy
Isaac Burns Murphy

Prince Jockey – Isaac Burns Murphy
Isaac Burns Murphy

Despite his success, his grave was unmarked
For decades for more than 60 years until
The 60’s on his headstone inscribed –
“I am proud of my calling as I am of my
Record , and I believe in my life
Will be recorded a success, though
The reputation I enjoy was earned in a
Stable and in a saddle”

Isaac Burns – changed it to Murphy to honor
His grandfather when @ 14 he became
A jockey –
Murphy won 628 of his one thousand four
Hundred and twelve starts –
A victory rate unequaled no chance of his
Record of winning surpassed standing
Five hundred and thirty wins in –
One thousand five hundred and thirty-eight
Rides which makes his winning rate
At 44 percent Murphy –
The first jockey inducted into the
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
@ its creation in 1953

Ride the beat Prince Jockey
Murphy – was the jockey for Kingman –
When he won the Kentucky Derby
To this date, the only horse owned by
Another Afrikan-American, Dudley Allen –
In 1884, he won 3 Kentucky Derbys
The only jockey to win the Kentucky Oaks
Clark Handicap, and the Kentucky Derby
In the same year –
Isaac Burns Murphy –
Died in 1896 at 36 was an
Alcoholic who’s weight gain forced him into
Early retirement –
Distinguished –
3 Kentucky Derby Wins
4 American Derby Wins
And 5 Latonia Derby Wins
Say it again He WINS
Say it again He WINS
Say it again He WINS
He WINS
He WINS

Isaac Burns Murphy
Isaac Burns Murphy
Isaac Burns Murphy
Isaac Burns Murphy

Chorus* - Ride the beat Prince Jockey –
Isaac Burns Murphy
Isaac Burns Murphy
Isaac Burns Murphy

*repeat chorus to end of track