Luke Blackburn

Luke Blackburn (1877–1904) was a thoroughbred race horse born and bred in Tennessee by Capt. James Franklin. He was inducted into the US Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1956. Background Sired by Bonnie Scotland, his dam was Nevada out of perhaps the most influential stallion America ever produced, the great Lexington. A bay foal, he was sold at two to Capt. Jim Williams who paid $510 for him. Just over a decade since the American Civil War, only former officers could afford racehorses, hence the copious amount of captains associated with the horse. Williams named the colt for Luke P. Blackburn, the governor of the state of Kentucky at the time, and he proceeded to race him thirteen times. Luke won twice. When the horse turned three, Capt. Williams sold him to the Dwyer Brothers for $2,500, and the Dwyer Brothers placed him in the hands of the future Hall of Fame trainer, James G. Rowe Sr.