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 creative inclusivity to inspire current and future generations through unrivaled and unseen 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 2021 PPAATH and Woodford Reserve 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 Thoroughbred 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 or cable television the first original Derby programming in 150-years that focuses on African American contributions and culture associated with the Kentucky Derby.
Mainstream Kentucky 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 Kentucky Derby programming generates for NBC, Black networks combined are void of ANY original Derby content or programming targeting African-American viewers. All told, “at a time when mainstream networks are losing viewers more than ever, networks targeting African American markets are experiencing double-digit growth, with African American households consuming 37% more television than any other group” – In short, “there is a great need for ORIGINAL African American themed content.” According to Nielsen, Black networks produce programming that accounts for 76% of the top indexing programs for Black Adults. Source: The Community Voice
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
Harlem Derby - Harlem, N.Y.
Race to Greatness – Louisville, KY
The Isaac Murphy Image Awards – Louisville, KY
NBC's 2020 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 (including Awards-based programming) in the Bluegrass state.
PPAATH organizer's are pursuing a historic partnership with private equity firms specializing in the investment of mass media (commercial film, global games and television assets) to serve as the centerpiece of a national economic equity campaign dedicated to the complex challenge of dismantling a century-old "Jim Crow" era ideology in 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.
