In this race, Isaac demonstrated the style that would make him not only a consistent winner but also a popular jockey among owners. He was growing into his full potential, and everyone saw it, including his mother, America.
Sometime during the fall meeting in Lexington, after his win on Glentina, Isaac decided to change his surname from Burns to Murphy. Why would Isaac choose to distance himself from the memory of his father, a Civil War veteran who had fought against slavery? What was the benefit of taking the last name of his grandfather Green (Jeremiah) Murphy? Evidence suggests that Isaac took his grandfather's name as a gesture of respect and to honor the man who had taken in a desperate America and her children in their time of need. The other alternative is that he did it because his mother asked him to. And being an obedient child who loved and respected his mother, and perhaps because of her poor health, Isaac chose to honor his mother's wishes. But why would America ask her son to change his name? The answer is unclear and open to speculation. However, it is possible that Jerry (Skillman) Burns was not Isaac's father. Jerry may have adopted Isaac as his son, and Isaac may have already known and accepted this, taking Burns as his last name because that was the name of the man who had cared for him as a father. But at this point, Isaac may have decided to change his name to set the story straight for himself and to stay connected to his real past.
We cannot be sure how Isaac spent his leisure time, but he probably had few free days to lose himself in the streets of Lexington or spend time with his mother. It is likely that during the winter months of November through January—or, in modern terms, the off-season—Isaac sought out his mother's company, but his time with her was probably limited because of her tuberculosis. Still, it seems safe to assume that America maintained an ongoing relationship with her son, despite her illness. They may have attended church together at one of the six black churches listed in the 1876 directory. While we will never know for sure the inner workings of the relationship between Isaac and America, one thing is clear: she placed her son on the path he seemed born to follow. America was important to Isaac, and he would be committed to fulfilling her vision for him long after her death in 1879.
Isaac's first official ride under his grandfather's name was a dramatic success, even though he was four and a half pounds overweight. On September 21, 1876, the second day of the fall meeting of the Louisville Jockey Club, the ninety-one-pound jockey again rode Springbranch, entered in the Bluegrass Stakes for two-year-olds. The field of stellar Thoroughbreds included Belle of the Meade, Glentina, Felicia, and Miss Ella. After a series of false starts, each jockey trying to get the jump on the others, the race began with Isaac in the awkward position of being in the lead. By the half-mile pole, the gap had been closed, with Belle of the Meade and her jockey Scott challenging Isaac and Springbranch for the lead. Keeping his cool, the rookie jockey maintained his pace and piloted Springbranch beautifully around the lower turn. With the two horses now running side by side and entering the homestretch, Isaac asked his light-flanked filly to give a little more, and she responded by opening up her stride and separating from the challenger to win by a length.43 With this victory, Isaac Murphy the jockey was born. But at that moment, no one could have known that the small fifteen-year-old with thin lips and a straight nose would create such a demand for great horses and even greater jockeys.
Overall, Isaac had a good showing at Louisville. He finished second to Alexander Keene Richards's Redding atop T. J. Megibben's Eaglet, and he had a fourth-place finish on Bennett's Glentina in the Sanford Stakes. The records for the rest of the 1876 season are fragmented. It is not clear whether Isaac rode in the Nashville Association meeting in October. However, records indicate that the Williams and Owings stable was there and that several of their horses competed and won major stakes races, so Isaac may have participated in some of these wins. Official records indicate that Isaac had mounts in fifteen races and recorded victories in two: at Lexington and at Louisville. However, if he rode in additional races in Nashville, he easily could have increased his mounts to twenty and his wins to four or five.
It is instructive to know that during this period, top jockeys rode 150 to 300 races per season, primarily because there were fewer horses and fewer races compared with later in the century. A jockey's salary could vary from $15 to $100 per month if he rode for a single stable, plus whatever bonuses he received for winning. Some jockeys, such as William Walker, frequently bet on the horses they rode, hoping to make extra money.
Now that he was a professional jockey, Isaac's life was about to change—his understanding of his new career, the world in which it functioned, and his place in it. How he would adjust and what choices he would make would be just as unique as his talents on the racetrack.
The End of an Era of Progress
With the election of Republican Rutherford B. Hayes to the presidency in 1876, the “bargain between Big Business and the South” was about to change the trajectory of progress in American society, especially as it related to blacks' ability to retain the rights gained through the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments.44 In Kentucky, Republican politicians argued over the future of the South, which was still unwilling to admit its “own acts of ‘madness, folly, and wickedness’ [toward blacks]; instead of taking the Negro by the hand and leading him in a friendly way in to the paths of virtue, intelligence and material prosperity, they [Southerners] have appealed to the passions and prejudices of race against race, until they have excited the ignorant and vicious deeds of violence and outrages…which cast a dark shadow over the entire South.”45 Unfortunately, the hotly contested election, the arguments in favor of the nation's growth and the development, and the hatred of the Negro by whites in both the North and the South resulted in compromises that not only threatened to start a new civil war but also put African Americans at the mercy of white Southerners who were still seething over losing the war, losing their property, and seeing their former slaves gain power and use it to refute and deny the idea of white dominance.
Almost immediately after the Federal government removed troops from the South, Southern planters and Southern Democrats set out to disenfranchise blacks by denying them access to the ballot box “by force, by economic intimidation, by propaganda designed to lead him [the Negro] to believe that there was no salvation for him in political lines but he must depend entirely upon the thrift and the good will of his white employers.”46 With the election of Hayes, segregation found a friend in Washington who was willing to promote the destruction of African American life as mere sport to enable growth and prosperity: the new basis for American capitalism.
In Slavery by Another Name, Douglas A. Blackmon writes lucidly about the consequences of the return of “white political control” in the South. In states like Mississippi, black life was already criminalized through legislation outlawing vagrancy. In a majority of Southern states, blacks faced the possibility of being jailed and forced to work under conditions that were, in some cases, worse that slavery. Blackmon writes: “By the end of Reconstruction in 1877, every formerly Confederate state except Virginia had adopted the practice of leasing black prisoners into commercial hands. There were variations among the states, but all shared the same basic formula. Nearly all the penal functions of government were turned over to the companies purchasing convicts. In return for what they paid each state, the companies received absolute control of the prisoners.”47 In other words, to feed the South's need for cheap labor and to reassert white privilege and power, the law and big business conspired to subjugate and reenslave African Americans through convict leasing programs.
In some Southern states, black boys under the age of fourteen were arrested for misdemeanors and petty crimes, or just for being orphaned and homeless. These mostly innocent victims were sent to convict camps with adults for terms ranging from a few months to life. In Kentucky, the first prison leasing contract was signed in 1825; by 1877, it was on the verge of expansion as white leaders debated the best way to
answer the Negro question.48 The extent to which African Americans in Lexington experienced the consequences of American racism and the new Southern capitalism is not known. However, if Isaac had not been apprenticed to Williams and Owings by his mother, or if she had died before he was established in some occupation, he might have ended up in one of those convict camps, leased to a company looking to fill its labor quota with able-bodied blacks.49 Fortunately for Isaac, his career as a jockey was taking off like a rocket. There seemed to be no end in sight to his success.
In April 1877 James Williams bought out his partner, Richard Owings, for an undisclosed amount of money and shipped his stable of horses to Nashville in preparation for the annual meeting there.50 In addition to Williams, Isaac rode for several other owners, including the firm of Rice and Bethune and J. W. Hunt-Reynolds, the proprietor of Fleetwood Stock Farm. In Nashville, Isaac finished third in his first four races; his lone victory came on day three on Williams's Vera Cruz in the Cumberland Stakes for three-year-olds. In both one-mile heats, he successfully piloted the bay colt to impressive wins over the field of competitors.51 Similar to his performance the previous fall, Isaac did extremely well for a novice jockey. His victory on Vera Cruz demonstrated that he was learning to judge the ability of the horse under him, as well as the abilities of the other horses in the field. In the final heat, King William jumped into the lead from the start, but by the half-mile pole, Isaac had brought Vera Cruz up and was challenging for the lead. There was something special about how he handled his horses down the stretch. With a little encouragement from Isaac, they responded and won by whatever it took—a length, a head, or a nose. In this race, Vera Cruz answered his request. The season was only beginning, and there would be plenty of close finishes to come.
Isaac had to be hoping that this season would solidify his career as a full-fledged jockey who was free to negotiate contracts and earn a set salary plus bonuses for victories. His apprentice's salary, which was paid to his mother, was obscenely low, considering the progress he had made over the past two seasons. An increase in salary would allow Isaac's mother to live more comfortably and perhaps try one of the numerous cures for consumption publicized in the Lexington Observer and Lexington Daily Press. Although these remedies were experimental at best and opportunistic quackery at worse, none would benefit America. Unfortunately, the real cure was decades away, and America had less than three years to live. But Isaac may have thought about the possibility of saving his mother's life from time to time.
Isaac arrived back in Lexington in time for the May 12 start of the Kentucky Association meeting. Riding Classmate in the Phoenix Stakes, Isaac was able to negotiate the turns on his home track but failed to close the distance on Bradamante and lost by a length. The next day, on J. R. McKee's Waterwitch, he won the Filly Stakes in dazzling fashion. Coming down the stretch, Isaac piloted the chestnut filly past Queechy like a missile, winning by a head. These dramatic finishes gained the public's attention.
By 1877, Isaac was no doubt maturing as he was increasingly exposed to the world beyond Lexington. What he thought about the election of Rutherford B. Hayes, the loss of Federal protection for blacks in the South, or the possibility of a war with Spain over Cuba, we will never know. But at the very least, he had to realize that one did not have to be white, educated, or middle class to be concerned about race, politics, and business. For most urban-dwelling blacks, their race represented a political position and therefore presented limited economic opportunities. Luckily for Isaac and other black jockeys, they were still somewhat insulated in horse racing. For the most part, at least in the South, whites still saw working with animals as “nigger work,” and they gladly let the “darkies” occupy most of those positions. Very soon, that would change. And Isaac would have a major role in transforming jockeying into a highly lucrative profession, and therefore one that was highly sought after by whites, who viewed black jockeys' high salaries as an affront to white boys, who could ride horses too.
In the meantime, James Williams, Eli Jordan, and Isaac Murphy made their way to Louisville on the special excursion trains from Lexington to prepare for the third meeting of the Louisville Jockey Club. Isaac was scheduled to ride in his first Kentucky Derby, piloting Vera Cruz. Benjamin Bruce, editor of the Kentucky Live Stock Record, wrote glowingly of the first day: “Never in the history of the Kentucky turf with all its splendid antecedents, has the promise been so bright or the prospects flattering for a brilliant meeting as the forthcoming one of the Louisville Jockey Club.”52 The weather on May 22, the first day of the races, was beautiful and “tempered by a gentle breeze,” and those sitting in the infield were anxious for the races to begin.53 After the first race, the spectators took up their positions all around the track and in the stands to witness the third installment of the spectacle that represented Kentucky pride, as well as its future: the Kentucky Derby.
In the field of eleven capable three-year-olds, Isaac's only advantage was his understanding of Vera Cruz and how to ride him. He had ridden the horse on numerous occasions and was well acquainted with his temperament, but different competitions and different fields can bring out the best and worse in athletes, even horses. After several false starts and a pause in the action, the field was off, but Vera Cruz had a poor start; the horse “reared and plunged” and was left behind.54 Isaac regained control over the temperamental animal to finish strong—in fourth place—but out of the money. Most believed that Vera Cruz would have won the Derby “if he had not unfortunately been left at the post.”55 Many years after the race, Isaac expressed the same sentiment: “I have always thought I should have won the Kentucky Derby that year…had not Vera Cruz, my mount been left at the post. Vera Cruz was a superior race horse, but was never sound and when this is considered his career was all the more remarkable.”56
During the final days of the Louisville Jockey Club meeting, Isaac had two other mounts; he finished first on Fair Play in a heat race on the sixth day, and he came in fourth on Classmate in a final-day “purse race” sponsored by a consortium of Louisville hotels. Early on the morning of the last day, the clouds had dispersed and the threat of rain had subsided, and the track was filled with racing fans and others interested in watching history unfold. They crowded the infield, the grandstand, and the areas surrounding the track to see Frank Harper's five-year-old bay stallion Ten Broeck, ridden by Isaac's friend and mentor William Walker, race against the clock.
Horses born in the Bluegrass were bred for speed, and Ten Broeck was capable of running very fast. In the time trials, he broke the American record for the mile at 1:39¾ and ran the best two miles, at 3:27½; the best three miles, at 5:26¼; and the best four miles, at 7:15¾.57 Newspaper headlines read: “Ten Broeck's Great Race,” “Ten Broeck Cuts Down the Fastest Two Mile Record Three Seconds,” and “A Glorious Event in Old Kentucky: Ten Broeck the Fastest Horse in the World.”58 The glory of “Old Kentucky” had been realized, and horse racing had emerged as a national spectacle worthy of coast-to-coast press coverage. The widespread attention garnered by this particular feat was the beginning of a number of changes in horse racing, the Bluegrass, and those who participated in the sport, especially Isaac Murphy.
That season, Isaac would ride for the first time at Saratoga, giving eastern horse-racing aficionados a glimpse of his abilities with les belles bêtes. The boy from Lexington was about to enter a world where fast horses, politics, and gambling were an integral part of the decadent realm of the eastern kings of the turf and their style of horse racing, which would directly and indirectly affect the entire nation.
Horse racing in the East had been in existence longer than the United States of America. When and where it was perfected mostly depended on who had money to spend on horses, where venues for racing were available, and whether people were interested in watching Thoroughbreds run around dirt tracks in the suburbs. In post–Civil War New York, wealthy investors such as Leonard Jerome, August Belmont, Cornelius Vanderbilt, William R. Travers, and
John Hunter supported the sport's revival, and a new culture of horse racing was developed for the large crowds of spectators who could afford to spend time and money doing whatever they pleased.59 Tracks were built at Saratoga Springs, Jerome Park, and Monmouth Park at Long Branch to satisfy the need for class affiliation and elevation. Writing about horse racing in New York, historian Steven Reiss observes, “Wealthy New Yorkers were creating racing stables because of personal satisfaction with their horses' accomplishments and a desire to enhance and certify their elite status.”60 By the 1870s, the resort town of Saratoga Springs, New York, became synonymous with the changing nature of the turf: it was obstinate, crooked, and unclean. Still, the lucrative purses in the East and the chance to showcase the pride of the Bluegrass drew Kentuckians to the Adirondacks version of Sodom and Gomorrah, where gambling, drinking, and other vices were rampant among the well-connected, well-heeled, and, most likely, well-armed.61
In 1862 gambler, former prizefighter, and future congressman John Morrissey led the push to make Saratoga Springs a destination for wealthy patrons who were interested in casino-style gambling and entertainment. Within a year, he added four days of horse racing to the growing list of activities, which included carriage rides, horseback riding, and boating. Seeking to expand the sporting aspect of the upstate New York resort, Morrissey formed the Saratoga Racing Association for the Improvement of the Breed, with the backing of Leonard Jerome, John Purdy, Cornelius Vanderbilt, William R. Travers, and John Hunter, who also became founding members of the organization. When the opportunity presented itself, the association secured an additional 125 acres to construct a new track and a grandstand capable of seating 5,000 spectators, with enough space left over to entertain as many as 10,000 on the grounds surrounding the track.62 The races were not always the most popular entertainment in Saratoga, and the racetrack's clientele found numerous other ways to spend their time and money—at the shops lining Broadway, in the local restaurants, and in the private hotel parlors where “Cubans” provided “musical entertainment” to the fashionable and the restless.63
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