Hidden Figures: Cheryl White #BlackHERstoryMonth 13/29 (Patreon)

Hidden Figures: Cheryl White #BlackHERstoryMonth 13/29

Cheryl White (October 29, 1953 — September 20, 2019) was the first Black American female horse racing jockey and the first woman to serve as a California horse racing steward. Born on October 29, 1953 into a horse-racing family in Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up on a horse farm. Her father, Raymond White, was an accomplished thoroughbred horse trainer who started his jockey career in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1924 and rode in Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati and other cities. Cheryl began career riding for her father in 1971, when she was 17 years old, and when she received her jockey license at a Thistledown in North Randall, Ohio, she became the first Black American female jockey. She finished 11th in her first race, on a gelding named Ace Reward, and earned her first win as a jockey on September 3, 1971. With that win, she became the first black woman in American thoroughbred racing history to finish first. That same year, Cheryl covered Jet Magazine. Over the course of her career, Cheryl White won 750 races, 226 of which were in Thoroughbred racing, and earned over $760,000 in prize money. As a Thoroughbred rider, White also became the first woman to win two races on the same day in two states in 1971, and the first female jockey to win five races in one day, on October 19, 1983 at Fresno Fair. In 1972, she was invited to the exclusive “Boots and Bows Handicap”, an all ladies’ race in Atlantic City. Cheryl, on the longest shot from a field of 14, won the race. White was the first woman to win the Appaloosa Horse Club's Jockey of the Year award, scoring the title in 1977, and then again in 1983, 1984, and 1985. She was inducted into the Appaloosa Hall of Fame in 2011. After passing the California Horse Racing Board's Steward Examination in 1991, White retired from riding in 1992 to become a racing official, making her the first woman to serve as a California horse racing steward. 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; White was also one of 18 people honored at the Bluegrass Black Business Association’s African-Americans in Thoroughbred Racing Industry Awards in 1994. White died on September 20, 2019 at the age of 65, in Youngstown, Ohio. #HiddenFigures #CherylWhite ****************** Merchandise! MAKE SURE U GETTA SHIRT!! https://www.teepublic.com/user/sssseren Follow me on social media! Instagram: @sensei_aishitemasu Personal Tumblr: http://sensei-aishitemasu.tumblr.com Tumblr for my work: https://sssseren.tumblr.com Snapchat: sssseren GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/tc5wh7q Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seren_sensei ****************** Did you know I wrote a book? ☺️ 'So, About That... A Year of Contemporary Essays on Race and Pop Culture' Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/About-That-Contemporary-Essays-Culture-ebook/dp/B013V0CHK6 Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013V0CHK6 Digital download (e-book): https://gumroad.com/l/IkUa ****************** Links: 'Memorial at Thistledown for Cheryl White, First Black Female Jockey:' https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/memorial-at-thistledown-for-cheryl-white-first-black-female-jockey/ 'Cheryl White, pioneering African American jockey, dies at 65:' https://www.drf.com/news/cheryl-white-pioneering-african-american-jockey-dies-65 'Cheryl White, First Black Female Jockey, Passes Away at 65 — Memorial Fund Established in Her Honor:' https://www.horsenation.com/2019/10/22/cheryl-white-first-black-female-jockey-passes-away-at-65-memorial-fund-established-in-her-honor/ 'Cheryl White was first out of the gate:' https://theundefeated.com/features/cheryl-white-first-black-female-jockey-in-the-united-states/ s post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own. 'Cheryl White, the 1st Black Female Jockey, Passes Away at 65:' https://patch.com/ohio/cleveland/cheryl-white-1st-black-female-jockey-passes-away-65 'The story of Cheryl White, the first black female jockey in U.S. horse racing history:' https://www.betchicago.com/cheryl-white-first-black-female-jockey-horse-racing Cheryl White (jockey) (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheryl_White_(jockey)