Edward Dudley Brown

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This Italianate cottage was the home of Edward Dudley Brown (1848-1906), who in one lifetime went from slave to jockey to trainer to owner.

Separated from his family at eight and sold into slavery to Robert A. Alexander of Woodburn Farm in Woodford County, Brown proved to have a marked adeptness with thoroughbreds and was soon riding. In his youth, before he became too heavy in his twenties to be a flat jockey, he entered Triple Crown history books for the first time when he won the 1870 Belmont Stakes on Kingfisher.

He gradually transitioned from jockey to trainer, and is best known for training Baden-Baden, Hindoo, Plaudit and Ben Brush, a thoroughbred he owned and the first horse inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1955.

In one newspaper article described him as a quiet person not given to gambling or other risky habits in the industry. He saved his earnings and began buying and trading his own stock. He owned and raised multiple yearlings that eventually won the Kentucky Derby, such as Ben Brush and Plaudit.

Please follow this link to an article from the Paulick Report for more on Brown's inspiring life.