By March, Murphy had not registered his colors with the American Turf Congress, a good indication that his stable was not active; however, he had reportedly been working with a promising three-year-old filly.143 Most important, Isaac had received several offers to ride but had not signed with a stable for the coming season.144 There could have been a number of reasons for this, including a waning desire to expose himself to the exceedingly hostile environment at the tracks; too little money offered for his services, given the expenses he incurred as an independent contractor; and a reluctance to commit to the brutal routine required to make weight for another season.
The Live Stock Record reported Murphy's thoughts about how modern jockeyship had changed: “Many promising boys were ruined with instruction usually given to them in sprinting races ‘get off in front and die there.’ They are not given the opportunities to develop the faculty of judging pace, which he considers the prime pre-requisite in a jockey. He laid particular stress upon the point that the horse generally had more to do with winning the race than the jockey, although he said poor jockeys had beaten many a good horse.”145 For the seasoned veteran, new challenges threatened to make a mockery of him and his success.
At the end of March, Isaac decided not to go away without a fight. He officially registered and paid the necessary fees to secure his licenses as a jockey, trainer, and owner, all of which were granted by the National Jockey Club.146 On April 14 he registered four horses from his stable: a chestnut colt named Valliant, a bay colt named Norvin, a brown filly named Enid, and an unnamed bay gelding. He registered his colors as blue with orange sleeves, and he named his operation Netherland Stables.147 Clearly, he was attempting to make a point, naming his stable after a country involved in the slave trade and claiming the Princevlag colors (absent white) as a signifier of that historical fact. His horses' names were also distinctly European: Valliant, after Villiars the Valiant or Simon the Valiant from the British tales of King Arthur; Norvin, which means “friend of the north” in German; and Enid, which means “soul” in Welsh. (Perhaps the nameless bay gelding represented black jockeys.) Isaac thus demonstrated not only his knowledge of British literature but also his knowledge of history, culture, and language.
By the end of the Lexington spring meeting, Isaac had started in six races, finishing out of the money in five and taking a second-place finish on Valliant on May 10, earning $50 for Netherland Stables.148 One week later, Isaac had his stable in Louisville ready to participate in the Louisville Jockey Club meeting and demonstrate his ability as an owner and trainer in the venue where he had become famous as a winning jockey. On May 16, in a purse race for $400, Isaac's Valliant won first prize.149 Three days later, Valliant, ridden by Alonzo Clayton, took second place.150 At Latonia on May 31, Valliant took the $500 first prize in the second race of the day, with Henry Williams aboard.151 On June 8, Valliant took another first prize worth $400.152 Overall, Netherland Stables finished with $730 in profits from the two victories by Valliant, but for whatever reason, the operation was dissolved.
In early June Isaac was offered a chance to participate in the stage production of The Derby Winner, which featured a cast of forty-two actors and six real racehorses, including the retired Freeland. Written by Al Spink of the Sporting News, the play was performed in October in midwestern cities such as Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, and St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri. Among the many reviewers, writer Willa Cather was so critical of the play that she would not publish the names of the actors, for fear it would ruin their future opportunities.153 Isaac was a businessman, and if the play could provide him with an income, he was willing to sign on. He was not the only professional athlete to take to the stage. In 1893 the great black Australian prizefighter Peter Jackson had played the role of Tom in Charles E. Davies's “spectacular production” of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.154 In an almost voyeuristic way, the spectacle was enhanced by Jackson's presence, and he drew people to the theater whose real interest was seeing the “black prince” of boxing.
In December Spirit of the Times ran a story announcing that the once highly revered jockey Isaac Murphy was the “drawing card” for the play The Derby Winner. The spectator aspects of the production would no doubt appeal to horse-racing fans interested in seeing living history.155 Isaac, who played himself riding Freeland, was an attraction to theatergoers and basically served as a prop or an artifact from a historical moment. Many saw Murphy's willingness to participate in the campy production as an indicator of his demise as a jockey. The New York Times seized the opportunity to point this out:
Isaac Murphy, the colored jockey, who up to the time of his performance on Firenzi at Monmouth Park, three years ago, was considered one of the best riders of the turf, is in hard luck. Since his drunken exhibition referred to, he has not been able to secure much employment. He has always been extravagant in his habits, with a marvelous capacity for champagne. “The Smoked Archer,” as he was called is now riding the famous old gelding Freeland in a play called “The Derby Winner,” which is being performed in the West. He wears Ed Corrigan's colors, just as he did when he rode Freeland in this great race against Miss Woodford at the Brighton Beach track ten years ago.156
Four years after Isaac had been exonerated of any wrongdoing at Monmouth, the New York Times was still suggesting that his fall from grace had been the result of high living. These kinds of stories appealed to whites who were threatened by black competition. They were signs of a changing American landscape where the social, economic, and political aspects of everyday life were interconnected, and whiteness had to be defended as relevant. The one way Isaac knew how to quiet his critics (and there were many) was to win, and 1895 presented another season and another opportunity to do so.
On March 14, 1895, Isaac left the Fayette County courthouse with his fourteen-year-old apprentice, James Frazer, in tow. Judge Bullock had just appointed him Frazer's guardian. The boy had been living in the countryside just outside Lexington when his mother died. How he became a ward of the county and apprenticed to Isaac is not known, but his grandmother, Charlotte Frazer, was not happy about the judge's ruling. Under the law, Isaac was required to “pay the boy or his father, grandmother or whoever claimed it $5 per month and clothe and feed the lad until he becomes of age.”157 Mrs. Frazer sought counsel to help her remove her grandson from the Murphy home, but the judge would not reverse his ruling, and the grandmother vowed to “get even with Mr. Murphy.”158 Just how she intended to do so, she didn't say. Isaac was interested in training the boy to be a jockey and shaping his character in a positive way. Perhaps Isaac and Lucy thought of young James as the child they always wanted.
Since the beginning of February, Isaac had been training for the 1895 season and the possibility of returning to the East, where there was plenty of money to be made riding quality mounts in large stakes races. He had known the glory of winning at Saratoga and at Monmouth Park. And he knew that if he wanted to get back on top, he would have to prove he was the same reliable jockey of old—the one who could take fans' breath away as he finished a close race by a head or a nose. By April, the Kansas City Times was reporting that Isaac had trained down to 112 pounds and was in “better shape to ride than in years.”159
Traveling to Tennessee to ride in the new Memphis Jockey Club races, Isaac no doubt wanted to show well after being somewhat absent for a year. It's not clear whether he had any mounts before April 15, but we do know he rode to a third-place finish that day on Caracas, son of his old friend Emperor of Norfolk, owned by E. J. Baldwin.160 While Isaac was in Tennessee making a comeback bid, his friend and protégé Willie Simms was in England winning praise at New Market after his victory in the Crawford Stakes on Utica, the three-year-old owned by Philip Dwyer and Richard Croker.161 Prior to leaving for England, Willie had consulted with Isaac about racing in Europe. Young jockeys like Simms, Hamilton, Overton, and Clayton considered Isaac a mentor and a model of professionalism and success, as well as a friend and advise
r. Although Simms could not have known it, Isaac's career was coming to a close as his own was about take off.
On April 26, the opening day of the Lexington spring meeting, Isaac finished in the money in two events—taking third in the inaugural Scramble worth $25, and claiming the $275 first-place prize for T. C. McDowell in the fifth race of the day.162 Riding in front of his hometown crowd, Isaac had every reason to believe he was poised to reclaim his status as a champion jockey. With Lucy watching from the stands, Isaac had the support of the one person who knew him better than he knew himself.
When the western meetings ended, the bulk of participants (owners, trainers, grooms, and jockeys) shifted their focus and resources to the East, where the money was good—even great—in the better contests. In early May, Isaac and Lucy were in New York (and later in Red Bank, New Jersey), where several good mounts and good money awaited.
On May 15 an early-morning shower made the air cold and crisp at the track at Gravesend. The rain had formed puddles, revealing the lowest spots in the track and indicating that the evening races would be slow and muddy.163 Some horses would be more affected than others by the rain-soaked track. For the Brooklyn Handicap, the bookmakers' favorites Dr. Rice and Ramapo were evenly matched in a field of competitors that included J. R. and F. P. Keene's Hornpipe, ridden by Anthony Hamilton, and Erie Stables' Lazzarone, ridden by Isaac Murphy. By noon, the sun had come out from behind the clouds, and with it some hope for a drier race.
After the preliminary races, Isaac and the other eleven jockeys weighed in for the Brooklyn Handicap. Because of the track conditions, Isaac would have to use all his skill and know-how to keep the 20:1 underdog Lazzarone in contention. The same was true of Hamilton on the lightweight colt Hornpipe, which the bookmakers predicted would be swallowed up by the field of proven winners. By four o'clock in the afternoon, the stands were crowded with young and old racing fans eager to place their bets and hoping for a windfall.
As the horses appeared on the track, cheers went up from the stands. Splendid specimens of horseflesh snorted at the ground and in the air, their muscles relaxed yet firm to the naked eye. Isaac galloped past the stands on the “large muscular thoroughbred” Lazzarone.164 Backers of the great horses watched as their pilots jockeyed for position at the post. When the flag fell at 4:45 PM, a dozen horses and their jockeys dashed to take the rail and set the pace. Isaac got out quickly on Lazzarone but was caught up in a mass of horseflesh and knocked back to the eighth position in front of Hamilton on Hornpipe. After six furlongs, several horses dropped out of contention, but Isaac had just begun to ride. Into the stretch, Sir Walter had the lead, and his jockey was pressing him to pull away. Using his whip to urge Lazzarone on, Isaac gained ground inch by inch until he passed Sir Walter and took the lead. At the finish, however, Hamilton, who had been at Isaac's hip, got Hornpipe over the finish line a head in front of his friend and mentor to collect the $10,000 prize.165 The race was won in unforgettable fashion, with both Murphy and Hamilton using their intelligence and their horses' ability to beat the odds. For the old-time race goers, it was a thing of beauty, reminiscent of the early days when the game was unsullied by bookmakers, politicians, and crooked jockeys out to make a buck.
Although he didn't win, Isaac proved he could still compete against some of the best jockeys. The New York Herald credited Isaac for keeping Lazzarone in contention: “Had Lazzarone won a big coup would have been pulled off. Donohue had given him a long, steady ‘prep,’ and the fact that he had done scarcely any fast work put most people off. Murphy rode a splendid race and deserves every commendation.”166 A few weeks later, Isaac rode Lazzarone to a third-place finish in the Brookdale Handicap, earning $200 for Erie Stables. His next big race on the colt would be the Suburban Handicap at Coney Island on Saturday, June 15, for a first prize of $5,000 and a chance to obtain more mounts.
In preparation for the race, Isaac suggested to Lazzarone's trainer, William Donohue, that they use blinkers to keep the horse from wandering and getting knocked off stride. At Gravesend, Isaac had observed that Lazzarone was sluggish and sulked at the start of the race. He believed blinkers would keep the horse focused straight ahead and encourage him to respond to his guidance without a struggle. In the last workout, Isaac was proved right, as the colt was “much better than the horse had previously shown.”167 For the Suburban Handicap, Lazzarone would wear blinkers.
But on June 15, the day of the race, Donohue replaced Isaac with Anthony Hamilton. For whatever reason, and without any warning, the decision to change jockeys had been made by the trainer and the owners, J. R. and F. D. Beard. Why they chose to do this, and why they waited until the day of race to do so, is a mystery. Frustrated, Isaac watched from the stands as Lazzarone ran a flawless race, outdistancing the field for the win.
After the race, a dejected Murphy commented to the media: Erie Stables had engaged him “to ride Lazzarone, and prevailed on me to stay over here to ride him…and then when he wins I have to stand on the ground while Hamilton gets the mount. I reduced so as to make weight, and never knew until this morning Hamilton would ride.” Noting that the horse had run with blinkers on, Isaac felt he had been treated “very shabbily” and had been unfairly deprived of a winning mount after riding Lazzarone so successfully in the Brooklyn Handicap.168 Clearly, the Beard brothers wanted to have the two best jockeys under their control to narrow the competition and ensure victory for Erie Stables. They didn't care about the long-standing friendship between Murphy and Hamilton: it was about winning. Isaac likely felt torn—angry with his friend for taking the mount, and angry with the Beard brothers for treating him with disrespect.
Between July and August, Isaac was offered very few mounts. After a few more forgettable races in the East and accusations that his failure to win or place was the result of being drunk in the saddle, Isaac returned home to Lexington, without any fanfare, to race in the Kentucky Association's fall engagement. By September 14, his record was abysmal: one first-place, one second-place, and seven third-place finishes and ten unplaced mounts. Of all active jockeys, Murphy was at the bottom of the list in wins, winning percentage, and mounts. Back in Lexington, he at least had the comfort of being at home, even though his mind was surely racked with confusion, disappointment, and anger at the unsavory changes in the industry and his lack of success.
On November 13, aboard the Bradley brothers' Tupto, Isaac won in the hands-down fashion the hometown crowd was accustomed to. This was only his second win of the year, and he probably thought it would be perfect to end the season on a high note. Then again, if there was money to be made, who was he to walk away from the opportunity? Six days later, riding Athenian, Isaac finished last in a field of eleven.169 The irony may have been lost on the spectators, but the great black jockey whose life had followed all the twists and turns of America's struggle to accept African Americans as citizens rode his last race on a horse whose name was representative of the origin of modern democracy. Based on the outcome of this particular race, democracy was dead. Isaac Murphy was done.
Quite plainly, Isaac Murphy's time had passed. Exactly when that happened is anyone's guess. Perhaps it was before the mysterious sickness that sullied his reputation and seriously injured his career. Maybe it happened when he decided to go east rather than west to California, where the millionaire miners would have welcomed talented jockeys like Isaac to teach them about horse racing's traditions. Whenever or wherever it happened, Isaac was caught in a changing society that villainized black people and in a changing industry that he had helped grow but now dismissed him. In the end, it was not a lack of talent or diminishing skills that caused Isaac Murphy to fade from the racecourses he had once dominated; it was the changing times and a new politics of the turf influenced by urbanization, capitalism, industrialization, and racism. He was a throwback to a time that promised dignity and honor for the patient and obedient, based on the mythological pretense of Republicanism.
9
A Pageantry of Woe
1896
On the morning of Sunday, February 16, 1896, a veil of dread descended on the stylish two-story, red-brick Victorian home at 419 East Third Street in Lexington, Kentucky. Four days prior, in the liminal hours between night and day, Lucy Murphy wept as her husband, Isaac Burns Murphy, the famed jockey and hero of the turf, struggled to take his last breath and then died. He had been sick for more than two weeks with a flulike illness, but the possibility of death had not been entertained—at least not publicly. The overcast February morning was not unusual for the time of year, and the cool, crisp air was characteristic of central Kentucky winters. Yet on this particular morning, the grayness of the day lent to the sullen mood. The funeral notices had gone out the day after his death, informing select friends and family that the services would begin at three o'clock at the Murphy residence. As expected, a dozen or so acquaintances arrived early to help ensure that all went as planned. The Reverend Spencer P. Young of Lexington's First Baptist Church would lead the services, followed by a selection of songs by the Lexington Choral Club; time permitting, those closest to the family would offer condolences. The body would then be escorted by a procession of the Lincoln and Sardis Lodge of Colored Masons and the Bethany Commandery of the Knights Templar to African Cemetery Number 2—the final resting place for thousands of former slaves and free blacks from the Lexington area.
The Prince of Jockeys Page 45