Baccarat, Pegasus World Cup and Hampton Art Lovers presents: "Too Black, Too Fast", an art exhibition sponsored by luxury brand Baccarat showcasing the portraiture and history of African American jockeys in thoroughbred horse racing and America's first professional athlete. More than 200 years before Jackie Robinson took to the baseball field, Black Jockeys ruled this "Sport of Kings" from 1600s until the early 1900s. The show in Historic Overtown is apart of the 2022 Pegasus World Cup activities at Gulfstream Park.

Considered the first professional athletes in the United States, Black jockeys pushed the sport to great heights in the late 1800’s and early 1900s. The numbers tell an amazing story of resilience and Black excellence. Enslaved men, who worked on the farms of wealthy white men, were the ones who knew the horses best, so they were the original trainers and jockeys. And, though slavery had been abolished by the time the Derby was first run, free African-Americans continued to hold many of the working-class jobs that were necessary to make a stable run. Thirteen of the 15 jockeys in the inaugural Derby in 1875 were African-American, and the African-American Oliver Lewis won the race riding Aristides. More zing, is that African-Americans won 15 of the first 28 runnings of the Kentucky Derby.

"Too Black, Too Fast" is a multimedia project exalting the history of African Americans in thoroughbred horse racing. Artist Michael McBride and sculptor George Nock have captured the story of African Americans in thoroughbred horse racing through visual art and portraiture.

Michael J. McBride, earned his undergraduate degree in art, from Tennessee State University and his graduate degree in painting from Illinois State University. Currently, he is an instructor of art at Tennessee State University and has been the lead artist on many community-based mural projects in Nashville, Tennessee. McBride was featured in Visions of My People, sixty years of African American art in Tennessee, an exhibit organized by the Tennessee State Museum and one of his pieces was purchase for their permanent collection. He was one of twelve Nashville artists selected by The Tennessean newspaper for inclusion in the Millennium 2000 Collection, a signal honor. Another honor was the Side by Side sister cities exhibition with Belfast, Northern Ireland, featuring 17 artists from Nashville and 17 artists from Ireland. He was awarded in the summer of 2005, a ten weeks artist in residence in Bermuda with the MasterWorks Museum of Bermuda Art. His current body of work titled “Too Black Too Fast” is a traveling exhibition of art about African- American jockeys and trainers. McBride’s work is included in both private and public collections in the US and abroad. His work has been featured on television sitcoms, such as "Living Single", "The Wayans Bros." Show", and "The Jamie Foxx Show".  Michael has illustrated over 80 children's books and book covers for several publishing groups.

George Nock was inspired early in life to become an artist. Nock's  journey into the world of art began at the age of three and a half when he impressed the nuns at his nursery school with his exceptional drawings - Nock created his first sculpture, a horse, after being introduced to clay in the second grade. Inspired, he began sculpting animals on a regular basis and at age nine, sold his first sculpture, a family of lions, for $15.00. Nock's education in art progressed when he met William Tasker and John Battle III, African American artists and teachers who became his mentors. While attending Ben Franklin High School in the 1960s, Nock also attended Saturday classes taught by Mr. Tasker at the Fleischer Art Memorial in South Philadelphia. Upon graduation, he attended Morgan State College and earned All-American honors in football. In 1969, Nock was drafted by the New York Jets where he played for three years and then the Washington Redskins in 1972. He retired soon thereafter and continued in his love of art.

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The Pegasus World Cup (January 29th, 2022) Invitational Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race whose first running was on January 28, 2017 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. It is run over the dirt at the distance of 11⁄8 miles (9 furlongs) and is open to horses four years old and up. The Grade I rating was assumed from the Donn Handicap. With a purse of $12 million for its inaugural running, the Pegasus World Cup surpassed the Dubai World Cup as the richest horse race in the world for the year 2017 & 2018. The Pegasus World Cup is South Florida’s premier event on the Thoroughbred horse racing calendar, blending entertainment, innovation and horse racing like no other event of its kind, capturing the attention of the racing industry, celebrities and fans from around the world.