Lexington’s World
Lexington’s story is so rich and multi-faceted that there’s just too much to fit between the pages of a book. So, I’ve created this section of my website to highlight some of these wonderful tangential stories that are fascinating in their own right. I think Lexington fans, Civil War buffs, and horse-lovers will enjoy them!
National Museum of Racing
Since the publication of Lexington in July, 2023, Lexington’s rival Lecomte and his jockey, the talented Black jockey Abe Hawkins, have been inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in the 2024 Hall of Fame class. Lexington was inducted in 1955, the Hall of Fame’s inaugural year.
Civil War Horses
According to some historical accounts, easily half of Lexington’s wartime-born foals fell into war service by conscription or theft. That they survived to carry forth his bloodline is unlikely. The Civil War required much of the horse. By conservative estimates, as many as 1,000,000 horses were killed in battle or died from exhaustion, starvation and hard usage.
The Metairie Racecourse
The Metairie, that great antebellum track where Lexington ran, fell to a fate embroiled by greed and vindictiveness. Charles T. Howard was the “Lottery King” of Louisiana. He’d spearheaded the Louisiana State Lottery Company for years as its President, much to his financial benefit. His fleet of yachts was just one of his many whimsical hobbies. In late 1870, he added the Jennie Bonnie to his collection, a thirty-six-foot vessel that had notably sailed some 6,000 nautical miles along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.