Oliver Lewis

This article is about the jockey and winner of the first Kentucky Derby. For the virtuoso violinist, see Oliver Lewis (violinist).

Oliver Lewis

Lewis, winning jockey of the inaugural Kentucky Derby
Personal information
Born	(1856-12-22)December 22, 1856 Fayette County, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	January 30, 1924(1924-01-30) (aged 67) Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Resting place	African Cemetery No. 2, Lexington, Kentucky
Occupations	Jockey, bookmaker
Spouse	Lucy Wright ​ (m. 1881)​
Children	11 (6 survived to adulthood)
Horse racing career
Sport	Horse racing
Major racing wins
American Classic wins: Kentucky Derby (1875)
Honors
Oliver Lewis Way, Lexington, Kentucky (2010) Lexington African-American Sports Hall of Fame (2023) Bronze monument at Churchill Downs (2026)
Significant horses
Aristides
Updated on August 13, 2026

Oliver Lewis (December 22, 1856 – January 30, 1924) was an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing who rode Aristides to victory in the inaugural Kentucky Derby on May 17, 1875. Lewis, an African American from Kentucky, was eighteen years old at the time of the race.

Lewis and Aristides won the Derby by two lengths in 2:373⁄4 for 1+1⁄2 miles, a time reported as an American record for the distance. Later in 1875, Lewis rode Aristides to a second-place finish in the Belmont Stakes. His victory in the first Derby occurred during an era in which African American jockeys played a dominant role in American Thoroughbred racing; thirteen of the fifteen jockeys in the inaugural Derby were Black.

After his brief riding career, Lewis worked as a teamster and bookmaker and later for the Cincinnati street department. His historical recognition increased substantially beginning in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. A Lexington roadway was named Oliver Lewis Way in 2010, he was inducted into the Lexington African-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2023, and in 2026 a bronze statue of Lewis was unveiled at Churchill Downs.

Early life

Lewis was born on December 22, 1856, in Kentucky to Goodson and Elanora Lewis. Recent research published by the Kentucky Horse Park places his birth in Fayette County. Other accounts have variously identified Woodford County or nearby Versailles as his birthplace.

Lewis grew up during a period in which African Americans were deeply involved in Kentucky's horse industry. By the 1870s, members of the Lewis family were living in the Lexington area.

Lewis became one of approximately twenty-one African American workers employed by horseman H. Price McGrath at McGrathiana, McGrath's farm near Lexington. The property later became part of the University of Kentucky's Coldstream Research Campus.

Before his Kentucky Derby victory, Lewis competed at the Kentucky Association track in Lexington. Historical racing records credit him with riding Aaron Pennington in winning and runner-up performances in heat races there. He also rode Calvin to a second-place finish in the Clark Sweepstakes at the Louisville Jockey Club grounds.

1875 Kentucky Derby

The first Kentucky Derby was held on May 17, 1875, at the newly opened Louisville Jockey Club grounds, later known as Churchill Downs. An estimated 10,000 spectators attended, and fifteen three-year-olds contested the 1+1⁄2-mile race.

Lewis rode Aristides, a chestnut colt owned by McGrath and trained by African American horseman Ansel Williamson. McGrath entered a second colt, Chesapeake, whom he considered his stronger chance. Aristides was intended to help establish a demanding early pace that would benefit Chesapeake later in the race.

Lewis accordingly allowed Aristides to race prominently. Chesapeake, however, failed to become a factor. With Aristides still strongly positioned as the field approached the finish, Lewis was permitted to continue for the victory.

Aristides defeated Volcano by two lengths in 2:373⁄4. The performance was reported as an American record for 1+1⁄2 miles. Lewis thereby became the first winning jockey in Kentucky Derby history.

Thirteen of the fifteen jockeys in the field were African American. Black jockeys remained prominent in the Derby during its early decades, winning fifteen of its first twenty-eight runnings before racism and segregation increasingly excluded Black riders from leading mounts and American racetracks.

Later racing

Lewis continued riding during the 1875 season. He again partnered Aristides in the Belmont Stakes, where the colt finished second.

Lewis also won additional races at the Louisville Jockey Club aboard Aristides but never rode in another Kentucky Derby. His documented career as a jockey was brief, and the surviving historical record does not provide a complete account of all of his mounts or victories.

Lewis was present at Churchill Downs for the 33rd Kentucky Derby in 1907, more than three decades after his victory in the inaugural running.

Life after racing

Following his riding career, Lewis remained connected with wagering and horse racing. He worked as a teamster and became a bookmaker, an occupation that was legal at the time.

Lewis compiled racing information and handicapping material for bettors. Later accounts have noted similarities between his method of organizing handicapping information and the form charts that subsequently became standard in racing publications.

After the death of H. Price McGrath in 1881 and the later sale of the McGrathiana estate, Lewis increasingly worked outside racing. By 1910, Lewis and his family were living in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was employed by the city's street department. He continued bookmaking as a secondary occupation.

Personal life

Lewis married Lucy Wright at Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Lexington on April 7, 1881. The couple lived on Ballard Street in Lexington and had eleven children, six of whom survived to adulthood.

The latter figure explains an inconsistency in some older accounts, which describe Lewis simply as the father of six children. Six was the number of children who survived to adulthood rather than the total number born to Lewis and his wife.

Lewis died in Cincinnati on January 30, 1924, at the age of 67. His funeral was held in Lexington, and he was buried in his family's plot at what is now African Cemetery No. 2.

Legacy

Lewis's place in racing history is closely connected with the prominent role of African American horsemen during the formative years of the Kentucky Derby. In 1875 both the winning jockey, Lewis, and winning trainer, Williamson, were Black. African American riders subsequently won fifteen of the first twenty-eight editions of the Derby.

For much of the twentieth century, Lewis received comparatively little public recognition outside histories of the Kentucky Derby. Beginning in the twenty-first century, several commemorations were established in his honor.

In 2010, Lexington selected the name Oliver Lewis Way for the Newtown Pike Extension following a public naming contest. Lewis's name received a majority of the votes cast.

The University of Kentucky's Class of 2011 subsequently funded a historical marker at the Coldstream Research Campus honoring Lewis, Williamson and Aristides. The marker was installed in 2012 on land associated with the former McGrathiana farm.

Lewis was inducted into the Lexington African-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2023.

On June 24, 2026, Churchill Downs and the Oliver Lewis Foundation unveiled a bronze monument to Lewis near the First Turn Club entrance at Churchill Downs. The statue was donated by Lewis's descendants, and the effort to erect it was led in part by his great-great-grandson, actor Rodney Van Johnson. Louisville Deputy Mayor Chan Kemper issued a proclamation recognizing June 24, 2026, as Oliver Lewis Day.

The monument was created using the only known authenticated photograph of Lewis. His descendants had become involved in correcting the repeated misidentification of other nineteenth-century Black jockeys as Lewis in modern publications.