An interesting footnote to the life of General "Bubba" Washington Jr., who recently passed away and whose obituary was listed on the sport's websites, is that he was the first African-American man to win a not-$100,000 race. Here's what we mean.
Washington had qualified Mary Ann Hobbs for the New York Sire Stakes three-year-old filly trot Championship, scheduled to race for a purse of $100,000 on October 8, 1974. I believe 1974 was the first year of the New York Sire Stakes Championships, based on an article written by Times writer Joe Nichols in the October 9 edition of the paper, which can be found online.
Going for the big money, Washington was going to put Herve Filion (who would win his 5000th race the next night) down to drive her, but I remember a story that one of Washington's sons, perhaps Cedric, who still campaigns at Monticello, persuaded "Daddy" to drive the horse himself, and Washington resolved to do so. (This parallels to some degree the Hambletonian of 2005, where a Pennsylvania horseman was bringing his horse to the big race, and was going to ask Cat Manzi to drive him, but Manzi told him — Roger Hammer — to drive, saying, "If you win, you'll remember it for the rest of your life." Hammer did drive Vivid Photo, and the rest is well-documented history.)
So Washington did drive Mary Ann Hobbs in the Championship, and she made a break. But so did three of her six other rivals. And Washington was able to rally Mary Ann Hobbs to the victory in the Championship.
Time: 2:12.1.
So General Washington Jr. became the first African-American driver to win a $100,000 race, right? Well, …
The 3-5 favorite for the race, Coral Belle, warmed up lame before the race, and the judges ordered her scratched (necessitating an $80,000+ refund). Another figure that changed was the purse, as the official purse for the contest is listed as $98,000. It's just a guess that there was a $2000 starting fee, and with the scratch the starting fee was refunded, and thus the purse dipped to $98,000. But a good case can be made that it was "a $100,000 race."
Upon the man's passing, this seemed to be the time to tell this story, as one of the pioneer African-Americans in a sport where Wiggle It Jiggleit is currently the best pacer in North America.
Jerry Connors