In 1980, Wallace Howard was featured in an issue of BLACK ENTERPRISE for his impact in the horse racing industry.
In 1980, Wallace Howard was featured in an issue of BLACK ENTERPRISEfor his impact in the horse racing industry, and more than 40 years later, he’s showing no sign of winding down.
At 80 years old, the Kentucky native and veteran horseman is still at the barn early, studying bloodlines, preparing horses with the same precision that has defined more than five decades in the industry.
“I feel like I’m 33, 34 years old,” Howard said.
That mindset — equal parts instinct, discipline, and lived experience — has carried him through a career that stretches across some of horse racing’s most competitive and exclusive circles. Long before conversations about access and equity reached the mainstream, Howard was already building a name for himself in rooms where few Black men were invited.
That exclusion didn’t always define the sport. In the late 19th and early 20th century, Black horsemen were its backbone. Oliver Lewis won the first Kentucky Derby in 1875, while Isaac Murphy became one of the most dominant jockeys in history, winning three Derbies. Jimmy Winkfield remains the last Black jockey to win the race, taking back-to-back victories in 1901 and 1902 before being forced to continue his career overseas. Innovators like Monkey Simon helped shape the modern riding style still used today, and figures like Ed Brown built reputations as elite trainers and horsemen.
Source: Courtesy Wallace Howard
A Career Built on Seeing What Others Miss
By the time Howard entered the business, that dominance had all but disappeared, but the blueprint was still there.
Howard’s path into horse racing wasn’t traditional. He first made a name for himself raising and competing gamecocks. That work led to an unexpected opportunity with a white farm owner, Ann Trimble, who brought him onto a horse farm in Kentucky. It was there, surrounded by thoroughbreds, that everything shifted.
Howard built his reputation as one of the first Black bloodstock agents in the sport, a role that demands a rare combination of technical knowledge and intuition.
“You got to be able to see,” he said. “People look and don’t see.”
That ability to see beyond surface-level value became his advantage.
Source: Courtesy Wallace Howard
From Bloodstock Agent to Global Horseman
Working with high-profile clients, including Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, Howard identified and secured horses capable of competing and winning at the highest levels. His process was rooted in understanding structure, movement, and potential.
“I’m buying for confirmation,” he explained. “Clean knees, the right angles… and I get a feeling from it. When I see a good horse, I feel it.”
That instinct took him around the world, from Argentina to New Zealand, sourcing horses and closing deals others couldn’t.
In the early 1980s, Howard spent months in Argentina sourcing horses for Berry Gordy while the country was in the middle of a violent regime shift. Gordy warned him to leave. Howard stayed.
“When I come, the horses come,” he recalled telling him.
Months later, he returned with the horses and his reputation sharpened by the kind of risk most people wouldn’t take.
“You can talk on the phone all you want,” he said. “But when you bring that cash there — BINGO.”
Howard’s eye for talent didn’t stop at acquisition. When he stepped into training, he proved he could develop winners just as effectively as he could find them.
Source: Credit: Andy Cecil
Turning Overlooked Horses Into Winners
One of his defining moments came early in his training career, when he began working with Herbert and Precious Luster, the founders of Luster Products, the Black-owned haircare company behind brands like Pink Oil and Pro-Line.
At the time, they sent him a horse that others had already written off, a runner stuck in claiming races with little promise.
After evaluating the horse’s condition and making key adjustments, he transformed it into a top competitor, eventually winning a Grade 1 stakes race and turning what looked like a loss into a breakthrough moment.
“They told me it was a claiming horse,” Howard said. “I said, ‘Y’all got a stakes horse here.’ And we proved it.”
That ability to unlock potential became a hallmark of his work.
The Business of Horse Racing
Today, Howard is still training — currently working with three horses, including a filly he believes has the potential to compete on major stages like the Breeders’ Cup. His approach remains unchanged: patience, discipline, and a refusal to cut corners.
“This is a patient game,” he said. “You can’t rush it.”
For Howard, success in horse racing has always been about more than the track.
“This is a profit and prestige sport,” he said.
Over the years, he has helped clients navigate the financial side of the industry, from identifying valuable bloodlines to understanding how ownership can function as both an investment and a long-term strategy.
His philosophy is straightforward: success isn’t about spending the most money, it’s about making the smartest decisions.
“You ain’t got to spend a fortune to make a lot of money,” he said.
That mindset has positioned Howard as both a horseman and a strategist—someone who understands how to build value from the ground up.
Howard entered the sport at a time when access for Black participants was shrinking, even as the industry grew more lucrative. Instead of stepping back, he leaned into what set him apart.
“I wasn’t afraid to speak up,” he said.
Courtesy Tim WalkerCourtesy Tim WalkerCourtesy Tim Walker
Building the Next Generation of Black Horsemen
That willingness to advocate, both for himself and for others, remains central to his work today.
He continues to mentor emerging horsemen and collaborate with those looking to enter the industry, emphasizing the importance of knowledge, discipline, and patience. Howard has also partnered with horsemen like Tim Walker, a Black cowboy and landowner working to expand access to the industry for a new generation, and blacksmith Duane Raglin.
“Any Black person that comes into this business, they got to be a good listener,” he said. “You got to know the do’s and don’ts.”
He’s also pushing for greater visibility, including the idea of an all-Black race featuring Black jockeys, trainers, and owners — a concept he believes could create new pathways into the sport.
“That would be huge,” he said.
As the Kentucky Derby approaches, Howard’s attention is fixed on what’s next — the next race, the next horse, the next opportunity.
“I’m looking for tomorrow,” he said. “I’m planning for the future.”
More than 50 years into his career, Wallace Howard is still doing what he’s always done: trusting his instincts, betting on his knowledge, and moving with the kind of confidence that only comes from experience.
And in a sport built on timing, precision, and belief, that might be his greatest advantage of all.
