“Pure Confidence” traces a slave jockey to “freedom” in Saratoga, New York

Simon Cato (Gavin Lawrence) in his gold and purple stripes is cheeky, witty, a charmer as a jockey. Step back. This is 1861 and he is black; cheeky translates to “impudent,” (a challenge to power). A “witty” black man probably had no translation. Colonel Wiley Johnson (Chris Mulkey), who has hired Simon to ride his racing horse, pleads, “Will you try and behave like a slave for just a few minutes!”