Our Mission
The Project to Preserve African American Turf History (PPAATH) is a Kentucky-based 501 C-3 non-profit organization with a clear mission focused on culturally relevant programming and engaging content to inspire current and future generations through unrivaled storytelling centered on early African American achievement in horse racing...
Our collective ambition aims to establish economic equity across digital media, film, hospitality, live sports, and television to preserve the rich legacies of these First Great Athletes.
On the road leading up to the annual running of the Kentucky Derby, horse racing’s ‘hidden figures’ often receive widespread publicity throughout the United States and abroad, along with Isaac Murphy, they remain an important topic in American sports culture to the present day.
NBC's Kentucky Derby, Woodford Reserve and PPAATH feature
Their lives have been depicted in numerous literary works (The Great Black Jockeys, Race Horse Men, and The Prince of Jockeys), a critically acclaimed theatrical production (Pure Confidence), and groundbreaking screenplays (Become The Wind) and (Photo Finish: The Race of The Century)!
These uplifting stories hold tremendous potential for inspiring future generations and their persistence and successes against great odds hold positive lessons about vision, character, skill, and tenacity, each relevant for current generations.
We aim to use these qualities and fabled stories to educate mass audiences about this significant chapter in thoroughbred racing history.
For more than 18 years, the PPAATH organization has been one of the leading voices chronicling Black excellence in horse racing, America's "First National Sport." Our ‘Bet the World Entertainment’ Production Company was founded on the premise of delivering more inclusive content across the entertainment space to pay homage to these early pioneers in sports...we aim to utilize this medium to elevate those whose unseen stories need telling!
Our award-winning intellectual properties span an array of commercial films, global games, live sports and television assets against the backdrop of this new era of streaming technology and amid today's multi-media companies’ insatiable demand for premium content.
Isaac Burns Murphy (April 16, 1861 - February 12, 1896), an astonishing talent who rightly emerged as one of horse racing's biggest stars throughout 19th century sports. Isaac Murphy dominated in the early years of Thoroughbred racing and is widely regarded as one of the best jockeys in the world.
Murphy was the first to win the Kentucky Derby on three occasions (1884, 1890 and 1891); the first Jockey inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame and the only jockey to have won the Kentucky Derby, the Kentucky Oaks and the Clark Handicap in the same year (1884) His 44% career win-rate remains an all-time industry record.
According to the late Dr. Pellom McDaniels lll, author of The Prince of Jockeys, The Life of Isaac Burns Murphy, “Isaac Murphy became an important figure – not just in sports, but in the social, political, and cultural consciousness of African Americans!”
Organizer's of the Project to Preserve African American Turf History are aiming to broadcast on network, cable or streaming television the first original Derby programming in 151-years that focuses on a robust lineup of engaging content associated with the Kentucky Derby’s Black racing heritage.
Mainstream Derby coverage consistently delivers upwards of 16-million viewers annually and is a top ratings draw year-over-year for Comcast/NBC’s “Big Event Saturday.” In 2018, NBC broadcasted a record live five-hour Kentucky Derby coverage which included a fashion and lifestyle feature by former Olympic Skaters Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski. Source: Bloodhorse/NBC Universal
Despite the massive ratings Derby programming generates for NBC, Adriana Waterston, EVP and Insights & Strategy Lead for Horowitz Research, emphasized the significance of culturally relevant content. “Culturally relevant content has always been an important piece of the media pie for Black audiences,” she notes. “With retention being a challenge in the SVOD and vMVPD spaces and engagement a challenge for FAST/AVOD, offering top-notch Black content can be an important differentiator.”
The study, FOCUS Black Volume I: ” reveals that content aimed at Black audiences is a key factor in determining which streaming platforms and services Black households choose to use.”
As traditional cable and satellite subscriptions decline, streaming services are popular among Black viewers. About two-thirds of Black TV content viewers subscribe to at least one streaming video on demand (SVOD) service, with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video being the most popular choices. However, the study also found that over 40% of Black viewers have access to at least one Black-targeted SVOD service, such as BET+ or ALLBLK.
According to the report, free ad-supported TV (FAST) channels have significantly increased popularity among Black audiences. Three-quarters of Black TV content viewers now use FAST services, a dramatic increase from just 13% in 2019. This growth outpaces the overall market, where FAST service usage increased by 25% during the same period.
Virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD) services like YouTube TV and Hulu with Live TV are also gaining traction among Black households, with nearly one-third subscribing to at least one such service.
The importance of content for diverse audiences was a central theme at the Cultural Insights Forum in 2024. The Forum focused on how brands and media companies can drive ROI by reaching and serving America’s diverse, multicultural, and intersectional audiences. Source: Black viewers drive growth
To date, the Kentucky Derby’s Black racing heritage has inspired a growing phenomenon in many communities across the U.S., these Derby-themed productions include the following Kentucky Derby events:
Alpha Derby Weekend – Atlanta, GA, The True Alpha Derby Experience
Aurora Derby Party - Denver, CO
Detroit Kentucky Derby Day Party – Detroit, MI, Charles H. Wright Museum of AA History
Ebony - Louisville, KY.
Race to Greatness – Louisville, KY
The Isaac Murphy Image Awards – Louisville, KY
NBC's Neckar Island and PPAATH feature
To support our ambitions, the Commonwealth of Kentucky by way of The Kentucky Office of Film & Development is offering aggressive tax incentives and resources to production companies that spend at least $250,000 to produce feature films and T.V. shows in the Bluegrass state.
PPAATH organizer's are pursuing historic partnerships with private equity firms specializing in the investment of mass media assets to serve as the centerpiece of a global economic equity campaign dedicated to the complex challenge of dismantling a century-old "Jim Crow" era ideology with regards to the Kentucky Derby's Black racing heritage.
As North America's oldest consecutively held sporting event dating back to 1875, the Kentucky Derby is distinctively recognized as a Louisville tradition and attracts more than (1) million attendees annually along with high-profile personalities from media, fashion, sports, and entertainment from across the globe.
