Wink: The Incredible Life and Epic Journey of Jimmy Winkfield [Hardcover]

Ed Hotaling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2004

"One of the most extraordinary stories in sports history is also one of its least known. Jimmy Winkfield was a gifted jockey and a remarkably intrepid man, and his life was a singular adventure. His is a story of persistence, hardship, and triumph, and it should be long remembered."—Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit: An American Legend

"In the entire sweep of American sports, from the days of a roistering John L. Sullivan in the 19th Century through the Tiger Woods phenomenon of the 21st, no figure made a bolder and more original odyssey of his life than Jimmy Winkfield, the poor son of former slaves whose brilliance as a jockey bore him from the winner's circle at the Kentucky Derby to the royal courts of Czarist Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire and from Kaiser Wilhelm's Germany to the salons of Paris. In Wink, author Ed Hotaling skilfully reports and chronicles Winkfield's battles against racism in the New World--his courage and daring in escaping that most implacable of foes--and his success and rise to glory as a rider and then a trainer in the Old World. The tale of Wink is an illuminating and inspiring read." —William Nack, author of Secretariat: The Making of a Champion, and My Turf: Horses, Boxers, Blood Money and the Sporting Life

"It is phenomenal enough that Jimmy Winkfield became a dominant force in American horse racing half a century before Jackie Robinson took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers. But this two-time Kentucky Derby–winner's adventures after leaving to race overseas make his story all the more compelling. Ed Hotaling has a marvelous tale to tell. This is the stuff of great nonfiction."—Douglas Brinkley, author of Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War

"In this fine book, Ed Hotaling adds the texture of a rich individual life to what his previous work has already told us about the great black jockeys of a century ago."—Henry Louis Gates, Jr., bestselling author, Chair of the Department of African and African American Studies and Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In mid- and late-19th-century America, horse racing led American sports, and within that world, black jockeys dominated. From the bluegrass of Kentucky to the fabled domes of Saratoga, one black jockey, Jimmy "Wink" Winkfield, overshadowed all the others by the turn of the century. With the rapid-fire patter of a track announcer, Hotaling, who penned the definitive history of black jockeys (The Great Black Jockeys), traces Wink's meteoric rise and tragic fall with eloquence and vivacity. As a child, Wink (1880–1974) was enthralled by stories of the great black riders, and by the time he was 17, he was toiling as a stable boy, eventually working his way up to jockey. A quick study, Wink became one of horse racing's most successful jockeys, winning two consecutive Kentucky Derbies, two consecutive Russian Derbies and numerous Warsaw Derbies. As the role of black jockeys began to wane in America and they began receiving threats from the KKK, Wink made a new career for himself in Russia and in Europe, racing in events there, winning big and even marrying a Russian heiress. Alas, after WWII, when he returned to the U.S., he encountered racism and the pain that comes with being a has-been. Hotaling's lovingly crafted reminiscence of a great athlete brings a vanished American subculture to light.
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From the Inside Flap

He was a giant of a man who stood barely five feet tall; a fierce competitor with a gentle manner; a gifted jockey whose outstanding accomplishments made him a pariah in his native land. At age twenty-three, two-time Kentucky Derby–winner Jimmy Winkfield was forced from American horseracing by a virulent combination of racism and hard times. He could have become one more victim of Jim Crow injustice, but Jimmy never allowed himself to be anyone’s victim. Instead he launched himself on an amazing adventure through the epochal events of the twentieth century, and in Wink, Ed Hotaling weaves that story with rich historical detail to tell a page-turning tale reminiscent of E. L. Doctorow’s Ragtime.

This vivid and compelling biography has already led to Winkfield’s recent induction into the horse racing's Hall of Fame—one of only three black jockeys honored there. Wink tells the story of Jimmy's rise from humble beginnings as a shoeshine boy in Lexington, Kentucky, to the top of turn-of-the-century American racing. Bursting with talent, confidence, and charm, this brilliant horseman was poised to become the greatest athlete in what was then the world’s biggest sport when he was blackballed by stable owners in 1903. Desperate to continue racing, Wink left his beloved Kentucky, bought a steamer ticket for Europe, and made the world his racetrack.

Hotaling follows Wink on a decades-long odyssey through the capitals of Europe. From the splendor and repression of Czarist Russia to the upheaval and brutality of the Bolshevik Revolution, from the militaristic pomp of the Kaiser’s Germany to the sophisticated elegance of Josephine Baker’s Paris, Wink excelled in his sport, winning purses that far surpassed his Kentucky Derby prizes.

But history seemed always to be gaining on Jimmy. He was the "black maestro" in Moscow, living large, when he and others were forced by the Bolshevik Army into an eleven-hundred-mile overland trek to Poland, herding two hundred thoroughbred horses and surviving on horse flesh. Two decades later, on top once more in France, he had to flee yet again—this time to protect his family from Nazi occupiers. In his sixties, Wink wielded a jackhammer with his 105-pound frame on the streets of Queens for Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration. In his seventies, he reestablished himself as a top French trainer and stable owner. He died in Paris at age ninety-four, still homesick for the rolling bluegrass meadows of his boyhood.

No athlete has ever had a more spectacular career or demonstrated more courageously how to ride past any hardship. Jimmy Winkfield achieved a human greatness that transcends the limits of sport. Wink tells this wonderful story—this American story—in all its rich and vibrant power.

Ed Hotaling, a leading social historian, is the nation’s preeminent authority on the history of black jockeys. An Emmy-winning reporter for the NBC television station in Washington, D.C., he is the author of The Great Black Jockeys and They're Off! Horse Racing at Saratoga.

"This may be the most fascinating untold sports story in American history."—Charles Osgood, anchor, CBS News Sunday Morning

"One of the most extraordinary stories in sports history is also one of its least known. Jimmy Winkfield was a gifted jockey and a remarkably intrepid man, and his life was a singular adventure. His is a story of persistence, hardship, and triumph, and it should be long remembered."—Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit: An American Legend

"It is phenomenal enough that Jimmy Winkfield became a dominant force in American horse racing half a century before Jackie Robinson took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers. But this two-time Kentucky Derby–winner's adventures after leaving to race overseas make his story all the more compelling. Ed Hotaling has a marvelous tale to tell. This is the stuff of great nonfiction."—Douglas Brinkley, author of Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War

"In this fine book, Ed Hotaling adds the texture of a rich individual life to what his previous work has already told us about the great black jockeys of a century ago."—Henry Louis Gates, Jr., bestselling author, Chair of the Department of African and African American Studies and Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (October 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071418628
• ISBN-13: 978-0071418621
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #814,923 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressive story of one of the last great black jockeys., December 3, 2004

By 

Monika "equestrienne_23" (Davis, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wink: The Incredible Life and Epic Journey of Jimmy Winkfield (Hardcover)

It is surprising that Jimmy Winkfield's name is not more well known, in light of all the amazing things he accomplished during his long lifetime. Winkfield was the youngest of seventeen children, born in Kentucky in 1880. His parents died while he was young, and he had to support himself at an early age. From modest jobs like shoeshining and carriage driving, the five-foot-tall black boy made the transition to riding racehorses, a career which would shape his entire life and take him on an amazing journey. When he began riding, a fare share of Winkfield's fellow jockeys were black, but over time they began to disappear. The jealousy and racism of their rival white riders drove many out of the profession. Others moved abroad to try their luck elsewhere. Winkfield, who loved horses and is quoted as having said he would die if they were taken away from him, chose the latter option, but not before winning back-to-back Kentucky Derbies in 1901 and 1902.

Leaving America, Winkfield traveled first to Poland, and then to Russia, where he was known as the "black maestro" and enjoyed even more success than he had had at home. In fact, he would become "the winningest jockey in the czar's Russia" (pg. 228). Among his accomplishments there is the capture of no less than four runnings of the All-Russian Derby, as well as the Emperor's Purse and two runnings of the Moscow Derby. While there was still racism to be found in Europe, the situation was less sinister and Winkfield was seen more as a curiosity at first, and later a hero, causing racegoers to cast their bets on the jockey rather than the horses he rode. And with good reason: Winkfield had a knack for finding the "race" in a racehorse and getting it out, and his win record was over 50% at this point in his career - a seemingly impossible accomplishment.

When the situation in Russia began to decline with the Revolution of 1905, Winkfield moved on. His career took him through Germany, Austria, and Hungary, in all of which he enjoyed further success, and at last to France, where he won the prestigious Prix du President de la Republique. In the late 1920s, as Winkfield moved into middle-age, he began to taper off his riding career in favor of training, and quit riding altogether at the age of fifty in 1930. The author points out: "He retired at twice the age most riders did. By his estimate, he had ridden more than 2,300 winners" (pg. 227). He established a training operation in Maisons-Laffitte and saddled quite a number of winners.

But with the emergence of Adolf Hitler and the beginning of World War II, Winkfield would face a whole new set of challenges. His farm was confiscated by the Germans, and Winkfield returned to America in 1941 with only $9 to his name. The former star jockey and successful trainer was reduced to working a jackhammer on the streets of New York at the age of sixty-one. After the war, however, Winkfield was able to return to France and rebuild his farm at Maisons-Laffitte. After a life filled with unprecedented adventure, and establishing himself first as the last great African American jockey and an international champion, and next as a successful trainer, Jimmy Winkfield died in his sleep in 1974, at the age of ninety-four. He is one of only three black jockeys that have been inducted into the horse racing Hall of Fame.

"Wink: The Incredible Life and Epic Journey of Jimmy Winkfield" was a fascinating read. I must admit I had never heard of Jimmy Winkfield before I came across this book, and I suspect there are many more like myself, but as author Ed Hotaling (who admits to not having any idea who Winkfield was when he saw the man in person in Paris) says, "after reading his story, you will never forget him" (pg. x). The prose flows easily and does this amazing jockey all the justice he deserves.

My only criticism of Hotaling's book, actually, is that in some places Hotaling goes a little overboard in his praise. Winkfield was certainly worthy of all the good things said of his career, but whenever the author discusses Winkfield in his role as a less-than-perfect family man - he cheated on his first wife, abandoned his second, cheated repeatedly on his third, fathered several children with his mistresses (and refused to help support these children financially), and treated his nephew, with whose care he had been entrusted, as something of a male Cinderella, leaving him home to do chores while the rest of the family went on outings to see movies - Hotaling comes across as being eager to gloss over these shortcomings and find excuses for Winkfield's behavior. The book would have been a bit more effective if the author had simply documented these facts and let them be, rather than trying to prettify things and lay the blame on others as he does.

Overall, however, I did enjoy the book very much. In addition to relating the many adventures of Winkfield's own life, Hotaling provides a wealth of background information that paints a vivid picture of life in both Europe and America at each stage of Winkfield's career. We learn much about the history of racing and of black jockeys, as well as gaining insight into broader historical events such as the Russo-Japanese War, the Revolution of 1905 in Russia, World War I, the Russian Revolution, and World War II, all of which impacted Winkfield's life and career. There is also plenty of interesting material on how racing and life in general in each of the countries where Winkfield rode compared to one another. The story is both impressive and inspiring. This is certainly a book I'd recommend to anyone with an interest in horse racing and its history.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An incredible book, May 5, 2005

By 

K. Mccandless (Earls Court, London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wink: The Incredible Life and Epic Journey of Jimmy Winkfield (Hardcover)

Like a couple of the other reviewers here already said, this is a great book. I really don't care much for racing but Ed Hotaling really brought the story of Jimmy Winkfield to life for me. What an amazing life and what a fine book.

Still, like the reviewer below noted, Hotaling glosses over the less-than-wonderful aspects of our hero's behavior, particularly towards his family. And given that this is probably the only book we're going to see on him for a while, it is a bit frustrating about all the information he leaves out. He never tells us where Winkfield is buried, nor does he go into any particular detail about what happened with his children or grandchildren. It's a somewhat slim book - 300 pages without the end notes - and I get the feeling that it was violently trimmed down in the editing.

In any event, though, these are just minor gripes. Even if you aren't a big sports fan, this is a gripping read for anyone who loves books.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Incredible Story of the Life of Jimmy Winkfield, April 30, 2005

By 

Patricia K. Marshall (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wink: The Incredible Life and Epic Journey of Jimmy Winkfield (Hardcover)

Thank you Mr. Hotaling for sharing Jimmy's story. His biography takes us to an important time in American history and takes us to far off places in the early 20th Century. Jimmy's passion for the sport and his circumstances brought him to Warsaw, controlled by the Russians in 1904. I can't imagine taking this risk, it tells us so much about Jimmy's confidence, his sense of self worth and passion for racing. He watched other jockeys leave America and found a way to participate in racing overseas. His story takes him through difficult times in Europe where he died at the age of 94.

What I liked most about the book is that it is a human interest story that shows Jimmy Winkfield's courage, gives us insight into early 20th century horse racing in America and what circumstances moved American jockeys overseas to ride. The story is told in the context of 20th Century history, which increases our understanding of the times in which Jimmy lived and the career decisions he made.

A must read for those who love horse racing, history and a good human-interest story.