This African American biography of Jimmy Winkfield celebrates the life of a young boy who grew up loving horses. He was born in the 1880's to an African American sharecropping family in Kentucky. Little Jimmy yearned for a life in riding horses on racetracks around the world. He wanted to live up to his hero, infinite Isaac Murphy. Jimmy wished to be a jockey so much that he learned everything about horses and even studied the jockeys. At the age of sixteen, he was finally given a chance to ride horses as a jockey.
Jimmy would not stop short of becoming a successful jockey. Despite the fact that he built his skills on the race track, Jimmy came across obstacles on and off of the tracks. Jimmy Winkfield triumphed his first Kentucky Derby race in 1901 and another triumph in 1902. Up until Jimmy's retirement in 1930, he persevered in horse racing in Europe and the United States for many years.
In 2004, Jimmy Winkfield initiated into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame.
Discussion
1. Have you ever ridden on a horse before?
2.Have you ever witnessed or even bet on a horse race?
Motivational Activities
1. Have students research a few more jockeys other than Jimmy"Wink" Winkfield.
2. Have students research the many different breeds of horses in the world.
Hubbard, Crystal, and McGuire, Robert (2008). The last Black King of the Kentucky Derby.
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