Burnt Cork with owner comedian Eddie Anderson, before the 1943 Kentucky Derby
Sire
Mr. Bones
Grandsire
Royal Minstrel
Dam
North Wind
Damsire
North Star
Sex
Stallion
Foaled
1940
Country
United States
Colour
Bay
Breeder
Lucas Berthold Combs
Owner
Eddie Anderson
Major wins
Prairie State Stakes (1942)
Burnt Cork (1940–1944) was a thoroughbred race horse, a son of Mr. Bones, who was owned by Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson.[1][2] His career earnings totaled $21,130 in 38 starts. The horse had 9 wins, places, and shows.[3][4]
Burnt Cork became the first horse entered at the Kentucky Derby by an African American owner
in May 1943.[5][6]
As a dark horse among thoroughbreds eligible for the event, he was timed at 0:36 for 3/8 of a mile on April 6, 1943.[7][8] Fulfilling a pre-race prediction of a last place finish, Burnt Cork came in
10th in a ten horse field.[9][10]
Because of his last-place finish, there was some controversy about whether Anderson had entered the horse into the Derby for publicity purposes.[11] Those who claimed this believed that the great race was marred by it. Frank B. Ward of the Youngstown Vindicator newspaper, devoted a considerable amount of space in his May 7, 1943 sports column to addressing this aspect. He pointed out that the horses of other prominent men had finished last in the past and there had been no outcry when that happened.
Ward went on to say that the money for Burnt Cork's Kentucky Derby entry was Anderson's to spend, that the dream of any thoroughbred horse owner was that his or her horse might be classed as good enough to qualify for the race, and one could certainly not blame Anderson for that. Ward continued, saying that Burnt Cork met all Kentucky Derby requirements for inclusion in 1943 and that there were no complaints at all from those who had also entered their horses in the race. He finished this segment by asking what all the shouting was about.[12][13]
^Montsin Nose Victor In Beverly Handicap, The New York Times, September 6, 1942, pg. S5.
^Bolus, Jim, ed. (1998). Kentucky Derby Stories. Pelican Publishing. p. 212. ISBN 978-1-56554-465-9. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
^"Burnt Cork Career Earnings". Thoroughbred Database. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
^"Burnt Cork To Run In Derby". The Rock Hill Herald. 27 April 1943. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
^The Horse That Almost Ran, Sports Illustrated, May 12, 1975
^"Burnt Cork in Derby No Joke to Rochester". Milwaukee Journal. 25 April 1943. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
^Three Derby Stars Work At Louisville, The New York Times, April 7, 1943, pg. 32.
^Morey, Charles (16 April 1943). "Burnt Cork Rated No. 1 Dark Horse In Kentucky Derby". Greensburg Daily Tribune. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
^60,000 At Classic, The New York Times, May 2, 1943, pg. S1.
^"Kentucky Derby Recap-1943". Kentucky Derby.com. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
^Cuddy, Jack (19 May 1943). "McKecknie Is Sure Reds Are on Way Up". The Victoria Advocate. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
^Ward, Frank B. (7 May 1943). "Along the Sports Rialto". Youngstown Vindicator. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
^"1943 Derby Eligible". The Montreal Gazette. 1 April 1943. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
Blackface is the practice of performers using burntcork or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship...
BurntCork (1940–1944) was a thoroughbred race horse, a son of Mr. Bones, who was owned by Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson. His career earnings totaled $21...
who were light. ... The end men were each rendered thoroughly black by burntcork." The minstrels themselves promoted their performing abilities, quoting...
on both sides of the Atlantic seized upon this new format, including burnt-cork blackface, to promote the end of slavery." As originally printed, the...
West Side Story. His biography noted that he had previously appeared in BurntCork & Melody and The Hullabaloo. After graduating from high school in 1967...
emphasized their artificiality by recourse to burntcork; after all, Williams did not really need the burntcork to be Black," despite his lighter skin complexion...
(policeman) includes a quote from P. H. Emerson's 1893 book Signor Lippo – BurntCork Artiste: "If the rozzers was to see him in bona clobber they'd take him...
with the punishment meted out in Cork". After the burning, K Company was moved to Dunmanway and began wearing burntcorks in their caps in reference to the...
she acted out as Toots in the 1929 film Alibi. She performed wearing burntcork (blackface) in D. W. Griffith's 1922 film One Exciting Night. The Red...
carried out by small teams of men who would black up their faces with burntcork before crossing the barbed wire and other debris of no man's land to infiltrate...
Faculty Concert (2011, YouTube) Mahar, William J. (1999). Behind the BurntCork Mask: Early Blackface Minstrelsy and Antebellum American Popular Culture...
resembled a tree with a wreath of freshly plucked foliage on his head with burntcork applied to his hands and face. As a result of these highly dangerous daylight...
Vulture. Retrieved 25 June 2020. Mahar, William J. (1999). Behind the BurntCork Mask: Early Blackface Minstrelsy and Antebellum American Popular Culture...
London. Retrieved 14 November 2017. Mahar, William John (1999). Behind the BurntCork Mask: Early Blackface Minstrelsy and Antebellum American Popular Culture...
University Press. ISBN 0-19-509641-X. Mahar, William J. (1999). Behind the BurntCork Mask: Early Blackface Minstrelsy and Antebellum American Popular Culture...
Philadelphia. Dumont's 1899 work "The Witmark amateur minstrel guide and burntcork encyclopedia" is a valuable resource on the history of American minstrelsy...
linen frocks over their clothing, the Mollies blackened their faces with burntcork. There are similarities – particularly in face-blackening and in the donning...
was disbanded. Allegedly, some Auxiliaries took to wearing pieces of burntcork on their caps afterwards, to celebrate the occasion. A few days later...
sister Mabel using a homemade mixture of petroleum jelly, coal dust and burntcork to darken her eyelashes, had the idea to create a commercial product to...
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