October
OctoberMighty Murphy
A strike rate of 20 percent plus (ie, one win every five rides) for a jockey in this country is considered outstanding.
Consider, therefore, the extraordinary achievement of a black American jockey at the end of the 19th century. The Afro-American hoop, Isaac Murphy, won 628 races from 1412 rides. This at a time when racing was only conducted on one or two days a week.
A stupendous strike rate of 44.5 percent!
It’s a record unlikely ever to be bettered — anywhere.
A racing scribe of the day said: "No man with a touch of heart disease should ever back his mounts," as many of his wins were by the narrowest margin.
Murphy was believed to be the first US jockey to deliberately ride a tactical race, allowing his horse to settle, off the pace, and come home with a rush in the straight, or stretch as it is known locally. Most US jockeys at the time rode hell for leather from the beginning to the end of a race.
His more significant wins included three Kentucky Derbies, four American Derbies over a five-year period and the Latonia Derby no less than five times (still a record).
Racial prejudice, coupled with alcoholism and a growing weight problem, finished his riding career prematurely and he died a pauper at 36 years of age.
A measure of his greatness is the fact that he was the first jockey to be elected to the US National Museum of Racing’s hall of fame (1955).
His mortal remains are buried in Lexington, Kentucky, appropriately near the grave of the mighty US thoroughbred Man o’ War.
Two champions of the turf.
Belmont (Vic)