Willie Simms...1901..The End

They dominated the sports and then they were by gone by 1904. Black jockeys stood in the stirrups and won race after race before sweeping racism soared over racetracks barring them from doing what they enjoyed most. Most of these riders didn't attend school but handling a race horse was the genius found in their hands. They knew how to get run out of a horse, by getting the horse to do more than they would for any other jockey.

One black jockey that stood out amongst the crowd was Willie Simms. Willie was born in Georgia in 1880,  and the glamor of horse racing placed its love in his blood from an early age. He knew he wanted to be a rider. Simms took his skills to Kentucky and quickly showed that his talents weren't just a tongue filled wish but God given. He rode in the Kentucky Derby in 1896 and in 1898. Both times he entered the race the young jockey produced winners. He guided Ben Brush in 1896 and then came back aboard Plaudit in 1898 to win once more.

 Willie Simms gifts enabled him to do what other black jockeys at the time didn't do and that was to win all triple crown races. He won the Belmont Stakes in 1893 and 1894 and also won the Preakness Stakes in 1898. Willie Simms took his riding style over the ocean and introduced the American style of riding in England.  The English called him a "Monkey On A Stick" but quickly the riding style was adopted. They called his riding style the "American Seat".  He became the first American to win in England.  The young jockey skills was much taller than he ever was.

The climate of the country changed and white jockeys started to boycott as a result of black jockeys and their tremendous riding skills. White jockeys would deliberately do things on the track to impede them. Jim Crow flew with wings that spread wide and far. Many believed that  these young talent belonged on the back stretch of the race track. They believed that they should be the one doing the preparation not the one that the crowd came to see. Unfortunately, the climate of the time caused many of these young men to abandon the sport they loved. They migrated to the stalls, mucking and shucking. Willie Simms hanged up his riding skills in 1901.


Today most African American youths are running towards other sports. They are not chasing the glory of the black jockeys from yesteryear. Sadly, when we think of icons in American sports and the contribution that African American made , we tend not to remember the black jockeys who rode and dominated the sport. You can ask any youth and they can tell you a little about Jackie Robinson and the major impact he had. My son who is ten years old saw the Jackie Robinson movie a couple years ago and quickly fell in love with the man. He plays baseball and forty two is the number he always request at the start of the season.

I hope one day that the racing community and the sporting world would pause and remember these giants who were too tiny to fight the claws of Jim Crow and racism. I hope one day that this sport that I fell in love with as a youth, would be generous in remembering those who didn't read and write very well, but whose hands were gifted from God in the sport of thoroughbred horse racing.