Ras Prince Monolulu was the original ‘colourful’ racing tipster and in his heyday, in the inter-war years, was nothing short of a national icon. Born Peter Carl McKay on Saint Croix, the largest of the US Virgin Islands, in 1881, Monolulu styled himself as a chief of the Falasha tribe of Abyssinia, or Ethiopia, as it is now.
As such, he cut an instantly recognisable figure at racecourses up and down the country, kitted out in garish pantaloons, waistcoats and jackets – two of which are on display at the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket – topped with a headdress of ostrich feathers. As engaging as he was eccentric, Monolulu beguiled racegoers with his catchphrase, ‘I gotta horse, I gotta horse to beat the favourite’, before dolling out his tips, in sealed envelopes, at ten shillings a time.
Legend has it that Monolulu won £8,000, or over £365,000 by modern standards, by backing the 1920 Derby winner, Spion Kop, but it would be fair to say that most of his tips were less profitable. However, his lack of success did little to lessen his celebrity and, for most of his life, was the most famous black man in the country. He appeared in public information films and on cigarette cards and made numerous cameo appearances, as himself, to add a note of authenticity to British films involving horse racing.