"Soap Perkins
Cincinnati Enquirer, 17 January 1903, page 13
FATE OF COLORED JOCKEY
NEGRO RIDER HAS HAD HIS DAY AND IS A RELIC OF THE PAST
In the list of winning jockeys at John J Ryan's outlawed track at
Newport Ky. the name of "Soap: Perkins appeared the other day. Turf
followers whose memory goes back to the days when Byron Merryland was making
turf history through the medium and Henry of Navarre, Prince Lief and other
great horses developed by this prince of horse trainers, were wondering if it
was the same little yellow boy who created something of a sensation in the East
when he came here as the premier jockey of the McClelland string.
At that time Perkins had few superiors in the saddle. He rode many good races in the East, perhaps the best being on Prince Lief at the Gravesend track during the fall meeting of 1895. Upon this occasion he almost lost a leg in winning. He got through an opening next the rail after having been pocketed several times during the race and just did get up in time to win by a nose.
Perkins was held in high esteem as long as he rode in good form, but he fell into bad company and was finally rules off at Ingleside after having lost on a 1 to 3 favorite. When the stewards asked him to come into the stand to explain his ride, the boy thought it was about time for him to leave California and this he lost no time doing. He first appearance in the saddle since that time was at the Newport merry go round the other day.