On June 15, 1971, Cheryl White became the first black female jockey. She was also the first woman at a major track to win five throroughbred races. In 1991, after passing the California Horse Racing Board’s Steward examination, she began serving as a racing official at California tracks.
Cheryl was one of racing’s pioneers. It was reported by one source that Cheryl was one of only three African American jockeys in America at that time. On October 19, 1983, White became the first female jockey to win 5 thoroughbred races in one day at a major track. “The last winner I rode that day was Montfort, a 10-year-old, and making his 100th start,” she laughed. Her accomplishments came at Fresno Fair in Northern California.
The year she appeared on the July 29, 1971 cover of “Jet” magazine was a year to remember. Cheryl shared the covers of “Jet” with such illuminates as: Civil Rights Activist Angela Davis, boxing champion Muhammad Ali, entertainer Sammy Davis, and Congressman John Conyers.
She garnered enough attention as a jockey to become invited to the “Boots and Bows Handicap”, and all ladies’ race in Atlantic City August 28, 1972 . Cheryl, on the longest shot from a field of 14, won the race.
“In my career, I rode about 750 winners”, said Cheryl recently, the list includes Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse, Arabian, Paint and Appaloosa races. “I was leading Appaloosa rider in America for 5 years,” she remarked. She also led in stakes victories and topped the riding standings at fair meets in Northern California in the 70s.
Cheryl White’s career was not short of rewards. In 1990 she was presented an Award of Merit by the African American Sports Hall of Fame, in Sacramento, California. That same year, the California Legislature Letter of Recognition, Sports Award, and the Award of Merit.
In 1991, Cheryl passed the California Horse Racing Board’s Steward Examination. She has since served as a racing official at various California tracks.
Pioneering jockey and racing official Cheryl White has been largely forgotten by major racing entities. At a symposium of pioneering female riders at the Kentucky Derby Museum, she was not invited. Though a member of the Jockey’s Guild, she was never featured on any jockey cards of any year. There was an award winning documentary on African Americans in Racing, produced in Lexington some years ago, Cheryl was not in the video. She was also excluded from the special edition collection of African American Jockey Cards.
Cheryl White was not ignored, however in 1994, when awarded “Successful African Americans in the Thoroughbred Racing Industry” by the Bluegrass Black Business Association in Lexington, Kentucky. Then was honored by the National Girls and Women in Sports Day, presented by the AAF, Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, California, 2006.
In 2006, her early years caught up to Cheryl when Harper’s Ferry National Historical Park, West Virginia, recognized Cheryl White as a honored guest at their Centennial Commoration.
Cheryl White will not be forgotten any more. Lexington, Kentucky is constructing a new park to honor African Americans in racing, and will name the park after Issac Murphy, they are delighted to include this special horseman, Cheryl White.
When the New York Times featured Sylvia Harris in 2008, they described her as a rarity among jockeys because she was an African American woman, a 40-year-old rookie and more shocking, suffering from mental illness.
The once homeless, single mother of three had a trouble-free life growing up in Santa Rosa, Calif. But her dream of becoming a veterinarian was shattered when she learned in her late teens that she suffered with manic depression.
Harris, who didn’t exactly grow up around horses, vividly remembers taking a few pony rides here and there, going to the races at Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields with her parents and playing with a popular 70s doll, Dusty and her Horse Nugget. Then her parent’s divorced, triggering stress and the episodes ensued.
Her new book, LONG SHOT: My Bipolar Life and the Horses Who Saved Me, is a candid memoir of a single mother crippled by her struggles with bipolar depression.
She insists that “sheer faith and determination” are truly the things that helped her to gain celebrity as the second African American female jockey in the United States to win a major thoroughbred horse race.
As far as her illness is concerned, Harris applauds her family and friends for their support, her “good” counselor and doctor, and without a doubt the horses.
Harris offers advice for aspiring jockeys. “Never give up no matter who tells you no you can’t do it. Write your goals down and make a wish list. Seek out those people you admire in that field even if it is not racing, and ask them if you can help them out some way. Be an apprentice. Learn, learn, learn, as much as possible from the people around you. Read and try to be around as many different horses that you can, even, if it is just to observe.”
When asked if a horse is truly a girl’s best friend, Harris shares, “I think across the board, somewhere in every little girl’s heart and mind, there is a wish to have a pony. Yes, in my case they have been this girl’s best friend in my dreams and now in everyday real life.”
During the off season, you can catch Harris at Delaware Park riding race Arabians.
Check out this portrait:
Studio portrait of an African American female equestrian rider from the late 1880s. via Black History Album, The Way We Were
