Ex-slave ruled the horse world

'BROWN DICK' ENTHRALLS, EVEN AFTER 100 YEARS By Merlene Davis HERALD-LEADER COLUMNIST Although he died in 1906, a former slave's accomplishments continue to tantalize historians and the curious alike who are amazed at his success despite daunting odds. Edward Dudley Brown, also known as Brown Dick, was a winning thoroughbred jockey, a standardbred rider, trainer of a Kentucky Derby winner, and trainer and owner of two Kentucky Oaks winners. "He was the Michael Jordan of his time," said Lucien Royse, a volunteer at the Georgetown & Scott County History Museum. "He has been neglected, and what he did was phenomenal." Researchers at that museum discovered Brown after hosting a 2003 exhibit of paintings by Edward Troye, an equine artist who lived in Scott County and who painted all the famous horses of the mid-1800s. One painting featured Brown as the jockey of undefeated Asteroid. Woodford County, however, has laid claim to Brown. Jonelle Fisher, who has written five books about Woodford County and the Bluegrass, discovered Brown while researching a book about Woodburn Farm in the late 1990s. Fisher requested a historical marker for downtown Midway, the city where Brown is thought to be buried. Brown was born a slave in Fayette County in 1850. Around 1858, according to Danna Estridge, curator of the Woodford County Historical Society, he was bought in a slave sale at the Fayette County Courthouse by Robert A. Alexander, who owned Woodburn Farm. Brown began as a stable boy, but soon became the best jockey at Woodburn. "I think he was just a very athletic, bright kid, who could handle these high-strung thoroughbreds," said Ron Vance, who had researched Brown for the museum in Georgetown. Brown also won the Belmont Stakes in 1870 aboard Kingfisher, owned by Daniel Swigert of Elmendorf Farm. Full Story: http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/14463973.htm