Dudley Allen

Quartermaster Sergeant
Company M
5th United States Colored Cavalry

Dudley Allen was born in Lexington, Kentucky in March 1856. His father's name was Hosea. John Dunn enslaved him. Allen became free when he enlisted in the 5th Colored Cavalry of the United States Colored Troops on August 29, 1864 at Camp Nelson, Kentucky. He served in Company M as a quartermaster sergeant. He was responsible for the company wagon and all the property it contained, as well as the care of horses and mules. Allen was discharged along with the rest of his regiment in Helena, Arkansas on March 16, 1866

After the War, Allen returned to Lexington and married Margaret Crittenden in 1870. They purchased a home in East Lexington in Kinkeadtown, a community located close to the Kentucky Association track. This is where Allen trained the horses in his own stable. It was during this time that Allen launched his 40-year career as an owner and trainer. Allen’s stable was well-regarded and employed others, including his wife’s nephew. Allen worked as a trainer for the Runnymeade Stud Farm, as well as individual owners including Thomas Jefferson Megibben (founder and president of the Latonia Race Course). Allen also was a part-owner along with Kinzea Stone of Jacobin Stable in Georgetown, Kentucky

The highlight of Allen’s career was the 1891 Kentucky Derby. Kingman, trained and owned by Allen, won with Isaac Murphy aboard. Jacobin Stables registered Kingman for the race, as it would have been too controversial to outright list Allen as the horse’s owner. Allen and Murphy were the last African American owner-jockey pair to win the Derby in its history.

Allen The Chronicle of African Americans in the Horse Industry  away at his home in 1911 due to kidney and heart disease. He was buried at the National Military Cemetery in the Lexington Cemetery. His wife followed him in death in 1919 and she was buried in Cove Haven Cemetery, also in Lexington, Kentucky. Allen's legacy endures in his winning record with Isaac Murphy, and as the first and only African American horse owner to win a Kentucky Derby.

Source:  The Chronicle of African Americans in the Horse Industry