New Book Chronicles Life Of Sylvia Rideoutt Bishop, The First Black Female Trainer In America Sponsored by:
A new book detailing life of Sylvia Rideoutt Bishop, the first Black female Thoroughbred trainer to be licensed in the United States, is now available from author Vicky Moon.
Bishop was one of 17 children born to a West Virginia family whose ancestors were enslaved. Sent to live with a nearby childless couple as a toddler, she was indulged with fancy dresses and one mesmerizing pony ride that changed her life. Her love of horses took her to the Charles Town racetrack at age fourteen to work as a groom, hot walker and then trainer, all the time fighting sexism and racial bigotry against a backdrop of the swirling Civil Rights movement.