Duke won the 1925 Kentucky Derby with “Flying Ebony”
By Oak Duke, pictured is William Duke from the National Museum of Racing
On a rainy Kentucky Derby Day, family members and friends of the William Duke family came from all over the United States to honor him Sunday, exactly 100 years since he won the “Run for the Roses,” with a horse named Flying Ebony.
Ironic because back in 1825, as at Churchill Downs on May 3rd, it was a muddy track too when Flying Ebony, far from being the favorite, won going away.
The story goes that Wellsville celebrated for days as the 1925 Kentucky Derby was historic also because it was the first to be broadcast on the radio, new mass media back then.
Wellsville Mayor Randy Shayler read the proclamation declaring Sunday as William Duke Day in the Village of Wellsville to the almost 200 family members and friends gathered at the Elks Club on Pearl Street in Wellsville, fittingly because the club is the former Duke house where the famous horse trainer grew up.
Family members attending included Hyslips, Haskins, and Walkers, besides Dukes, deriving their lineage and relationship from William Duke’s daughters, Ella and Victoria.
The idea to hold the centennial event was almost a year in the making and special commendations go out to planners Bob and Voni Walker, Richard and Tracie Walker, Mark Haskins, Tom Haskins, Bruce Duke, John Hyslip and Mayor Randy Shayler, and the Allegany County Historical Assn., as people traveled from as far away as Alaska, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Virginia, and up and down the East Coast, as well as the Midwest to attend the event.
The official proclamation presented to the family from the village read:
“In honor of William Duke and in tribute to his many significant accomplishments in the field of Throughbred Horse Racing, along with appreciation brought to the Wellsville Community by this native son, it is a privilege to participate in this 100th Anniversary Celebration of his historic Kentucky Derby win.
Whereas, William Duke was born December 5, 1857 in Wellsville, NY and began his early career in timber, sawmill, oil field, and banking before following his passion to train race horses, and
Whereas, William Duke’s early career as a Throughbred horse trainer was predominately in England and France where his training methods and intolerance of artificial stimulants changed the treatment of race horses and resulted in unprecedented success and numerous individual honors from 1903 through 1924, and
Whereas, William Duke turned his full time focus to the United States and Wellsville in late 1924 where his home stands today as the Elks Lodge, and where numerous members of his lineage still reside, and he accomplished a feat unmatched by training 1925 winners of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Travers Stakes with three different horses, and
Whereas, William Duke was inducted in the Hall of Fame at the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga in 1956.
Now, Therefore, be it resolved, I Randy Shayler, Mayor of the Village of Wellsville, find it fitting and right date to, under my name and seal proclaim today, Saturday, May 3, 2025 as “William Duke Day” in the Village of Wellsville and I urge all citizens to join me in this observance.
Signed, Randy Shayler, Mayor, Village of Wellsville, NY.
More can be found about William Duke’s career at:
https://www.racingmuseum.org/hall-of-fame/trainer/william-b-duke
