Who were the 14 jockeys in the first Kentucky Derby?

Answer 1

There were 15, not 14, jockeys who participated in the inaugural Kentucky Derby of May 17, 1875. Of that number, Billy Lakeland was the only white rider. The fourteen others, including the first-place-finisher, were all African Americans. The complete list of names, in the order in which the riders' horses finished, is as follows:

1. Oliver Lewis [1856 - 1924] on Aristides;

2. H. Williams on Volcano;

3. W. Chambers on Verdigris;

4. W. Walker on Bob Woolley;

5. M. Kelson on Ten Broeck;

6. J. Carter on Grenoble;

7. M. Jones on Bill Bruce;

8. W. Henry on Chesapeake;

9. R. Colston on Searcher;

10. Billy Lakeland on the chestnut filly Ascension;

11. Halloway on Enlister;

12. D. Jones on McCreery;

13. Masterson on Warsaw;

14. J. Houston on Vagabond; and

15. Stradford on the chestnut filly Gold Mine.