Kentucky Derby Pop-Up Challenge!

Question

Saturday, May 6th is the Kentucky Derby and to celebrate we are having our own Run for the Roses!

The Kentucky Project welcomes everyone to celebrate Horse Racing Jockeys in honor of the Kentucky Derby.  You can help in two ways:  Connect Jockeys to the Global Tree and/or Add Jockeys to WikiTree.

Tickets to the 2023 Kentucky Derby started at $85 and went to $6,787.... but you can WikiTree for Free. 

1. Connect these existing Jockey Profiles not already connected to the Global Tree.
2. Add these Notable Jockeys to WikiTree (birth location listed).  Each have extremely interesting stories on their Wikipedia pages.

• Add USBH Jockeys to WikiTree
•  Eliza Carpenter (Virginia)
• Cheryl White 1st AfricanAmerican Female Jockey
• Roy L Gilbert (Kentucky)
• Michael Venezia (NYC w/Italian Roots)
• Earl Graham (Los Angeles)
• Alice vanderdeen (Colorado)
• Charles W Boland (Canada)
• Thomas Clayton (NSW, Australia)
• Kieran Kelly (Ireland)
• Frank Hayes (Ireland)
• Brian Taylor (England)
• Emmanuel Mercer (England) & brother, Joseph
• Patrick Eddery (England) 
• and his father, James & gfather Jack
• Herbert Nicholson & Son David
• Thomas Rimmell (England)
• Terrence Biddlecombe (England)
• Frederick Winter & Father Fred Sr (England)
• Henry Bobby Beasley + father & 3 uncles. (Ireland)
• Maj William Hern (England)
• Philip Cheng (Hong Kong)
• Willy Kan (Hong Kong)

Or find more English, American, Puerto Rican, Australian, Irish, Female... or maybe you have Ancestors with a love of horses in your tree that you can add.

Stop back by this G2G message and let us know who you added or what interesting horsey finds you found.

Comments

Just for fun...

What horse is everyone picking to win the Run for the Roses? 

https://www.kentuckyderby.com/horses

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Trivia:  Eight descendants of Secretariat will compete in this week's Kentucky Derby

Answer 1

I'm in! I am always up to Rep Kentucky! I am grabbing up Mr. Roy Gilbert.

Comments

Yay Pam! Thanks for working on him!!

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He is finally done. (well almost) [[Gilbert-20485|Roy Lee Gilbert (1938-1961)]]. I added his father and then discovered his mother is already on WikiTree. I am just waiting for my trusted list request to be answered to connect him to the tree through her.

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Great work Pam - I love that profile pic!

Answer 2

Have started a basic profile on Mr. Bobby Beasley, may as well include his dad, granddad, uncles, and father-in-law who were all racing royalty. Building him out today, tipping my hat to the jockey with a race designated the "greatest comeback since Lazarus"

Comments

Great choice Erin - horsemanship definitely seems to run in families! Make sure to pop back here and share a link for your "Lazarus" profile .

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You really picked a great choice!  His dad, Mr. Harry Beasley, was the "Grand Old Man," of the Irish Turf and doyen of gentlemen riders.

A big thanks to John Tyner too for helping make sure that Family Search had the correct information on this family.

Answer 3

I added Wantha Davis (not on this list but in the Female Category).   She is in the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame. :)

I added a link to her Eulogy... a must read!

She won a thousand races before women were even licensed to race. 

Answer 4

I added a profile for Herbert Nicholson.  I will work on the rest of his family later.

Comments

Really cool profile!  Interesting to see his wife listed as "Unpaid Domestic Duties".

Thanks for joining the Popup!

Answer 5

I am working on Alice Van Der Veen Springsteen; very interesting life.

Comments

She is SO cool!!!   

Dale Evans best friend.

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Great job on the profile! 

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Thank You!

Answer 6

I added this one. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cauthen-251

Comments

A Triple Crown Winner!

Great job on this Notable Jockey.

Answer 7

This challenge is right up my street, as anyone who read my long and rambling member of the week interview last year may recall:
https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1427281

Mark Humphrys [[Humphrys-126]] has an excellent pedigree of the Winter horseracing dynasty at
https://humphrysfamilytree.com/Flanagan/winter.html

Nancy Winter née Flanagan, wife and mother of the two Freds, was a niece of Louisa Cosgrave née Flanagan [[Flanagan-2111]], who is already on WikiTree, but not connected.  Louisa's husband William and son Liam were respectively President of the Executive Council and Taoiseach (the later equivalent position), so it will be good to get them also connected.

William Hern was from England, not Ireland.

Patrick (Pat) Eddery was Emmanuel Mercer's son-in-law, so connecting one will connect the other, as long as we are allowed to add living individuals.

Similary, Pat Eddery's living brother and the late racehorse trainer Sir Henry Cecil married two Guest sisters.

Sir Henry's parents are on WikiTree ([[Cecil-1118]] and [[Burnett-3816]]) and are connected, with four offspring, all showing as [[private son]].  Sir Henry has Wikipedia pages in six languages, so should be a Notable:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Cecil

I have family trees of Pat Eddery and Fred Winter on my own website at
http://pwaldron.info/tng/getperson.php?personID=I45299
and
http://pwaldron.info/tng/getperson.php?personID=I30338
respectively.  Feel free to register if you want to see them, but just mention in the notes on the registration page that you are participating in this challenge, and await my manual approval.

I really wish that the powers-that-be at WikiTree would some week choose 11 horsemen and horsewomen as example profiles of the week, perhaps to coincide with the original Derby at Epsom on 3 June or for the Breeders' Cup on 3 and 4 November.

Comments

Paddy -

As I was reseaching Notable Jockeys, it definitely was becoming circular.   Horse families definitely tend to stick together.   Thanks for all the details you provided!

I grew up very close to a racetrack.  Many times, I had to wait for the horses to be walked across the street from the Stable to the Track for exercise.   Those men and women were hard workers that rarely got recognized.  I really love your idea of Horsemen and Horsewomen.

I was hoping that someone would select Maj Hern... great story.

Answer 8

I've been sitting here all morning doing WikiTree and listening to an endless procession of private jets and their wealthy passengers fly over my house on their way to Churchill Downs here in Louisville.  I haven't even looked to see who is running in this year's race. Bah humbug!

Answer 9

My grandfather was a California horse racing official who managed several tracks including Hollywood Park, Santa Anita, Del Mar, and Agua Calinete in Tijuana. I remember as a kid he would take me way up into the rickety steward's box to watch the races through a huge pair of binoculars.

This morning, I created a profile of jockey Johnny Longden, who was a personal friend of my grandparents. At one point, he was America's winningest jockey and in 1943 he won the Triple Crown riding Count Fleet.

This project brings back a lot of good memories.

Comments

Thanks David. That's so cool to have that personal connection!

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I really love that you added a profile that meant something to you. Thanks for participating.

Answer 10

Just read that attendees at today's Kentucky Derby are expected to consume 522,000 cans of beer, 142,000 hot dogs, and 120,000 mint juleps (requiring 1,000 pounds of mint and 60,000 pounds of ice).

Comments

I may be drinking a mint julep now...  Or it's sweet tea. 

Answer 11

I will add Eliza Carpenter!

Comments

Fantastic choice Eowyn! She's such an amazing woman!

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I'm loving learning about her!

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In progress: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Carpenter-24336

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Awesome!  She was a last minute add.  Really inspiring woman.

Answer 12

I added Cheryl White.

Comments

Awesome!  Her story is a great one too!  So humble.  Thanks for adding her.

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You're welcome! I've now added her father Raymond A. White, who was also a jockey and horse trainer, though not as famous as his daughter.

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Such a great remark about Raymond:

After his death, he was remembered as a "class act and a throwback to racing's golden days...[who] always wore a tie to the races."

Answer 13

Well, my Saturday plan went a little sideways, so I'm a little slow out of the gate, but I found a couple of local guys from the American Jockeys list I'm planning to work on tonight: Eugene James and Charles Kurtsinger.

Comments

Great idea Mel!

Answer 14

All of us at the Kentucky Project want to extend a big Thank You to everyone who participated in the Kentucky Derby Pop-up! Though we weren't tracking contributions, the Jockeys category on WikiTree got more than a 15% bump, and many collateral profiles were created as well.

We have virtual roses and slices of Derby pie waiting for you all in the winner's circle!