UPDATE: Day honors Black horse owners of Derby horse

UPDATE, POSTED 7 P.M. SEPT. 3, 2020

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – The Lexington Fayette County Urban Council paid tribute Thursday night to a bit of history.

The Council approved a resolution honoring Greg Harbut, a Lexington Bloodstock agent, and Ray Daniels, a Lexington businessman, and their horse, Necker Island, which is one of 18 horses to qualify for this weekend’s Kentucky Derby.

For the first time in 13 years, African Americans will have ownership in a Derby qualifying racehorse.

And Harbut hopes it’s the beginning of something more.

“African-Americans have a deep and storied history in horse racing…I am hopeful more owners will come in,” Harbut said Thursday night during the Council’s presentation of the resolution.

“He exudes the images of showing African-American kids the things they can do if they put their minds to it,” District 1 Council member James Brown said of Harbut and the contributions he and his partners make to the community.

ORIGINAL STORY, AUG. 24, 2020

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ/Press Release) – The 146th running of the Kentucky Derby will be like none other.  Some ways are obvious, it’s being run in September and not May, no fans in the stands, the ‘second’ leg of the Triple Crown.

But some other, more subtle and yet more significant historic and social differences also are happening.

For the first time in 13 years, African Americans will have ownership in a Derby qualifying racehorse.

Ray Daniels, a Lexington businessman, and Greg Harbut, a Lexington Bloodstock Agent, are two of three owners of the Kentucky thoroughbred, Necker Island. The two are among a tiny group of Black men to ever own a Derby qualifying racehorse.

“My family and I are excited and truly blessed to be part of such a momentous event,” Daniels said.

Especially noteworthy of this historic accomplishment is Harbut’s lineage. He is the grandson of Tom Harbut, a groom and subsequently the general manager for Harry F. Guggenheim’s breeding stallion operations in the 1960s.

Tom Harbut owned a racehorse, Touch Bar that ran in the 1962 Kentucky Derby. He did not attend to watch his horse because Blacks were not allowed to sit in the grandstands.

Greg is the great-grandson of Will Harbut, the legendary groom for Man o’ War from 1930-1946. Many industry experts consider Man o’ War to be the greatest racehorse of all time.

“My family has been on this journey for nearly 100 years. Horse racing is in our blood and I am humbled and honored to continue the legacy of my grandfather and great-grandfather,” Harbut said.

Many organizations are calling for a boycott of the Derby as a pathway to justice for the unarmed killing of Breonna Taylor at the hands of the Louisville Police Department.

“There is a powerful social movement sweeping the country that cannot be ignored,” said Daniels. “Black lives matter, and I wholeheartedly stand in solidarity with the family of Breonna Taylor in the call for justice.”

Necker Island is a colt by Hard Spun who finished second in the 2007 Kentucky Derby and amassed nearly $3 million in career earnings. Necker Island will be ridden by Miguel Mena on Sept. 5.