Trailblazing female jockey remembered for 'courage, grit and progress'
Diane Crump, who in 1969 became the first woman to ride professionally in a horse race in the United States, dies at 77.
2 hours agoSat 3 Jan 2026 at 12:29am
Diane Crump is being remembered as a pioneer of horse racing in the United States. (AP: Gene Herrick)
In short:
Diane Crump was the first woman to ride professionally in a horse race in the United States.
She was also the first female jockey to contest the revered Kentucky Derby.
Crump won 228 races before retiring in 1998.
Diane Crump, who in 1969 became the first woman to ride professionally in a horse race in the United States, has died.
Crump had an aggressive form of brain cancer and died on Friday AEDT in hospice care in Winchester, Virginia, aged 77.
She won 228 races before her final ride in 1998, a month shy of her 50th birthday and nearly 30 years after her trailblazing ride at Hialeah Park in Florida on February 7, 1969.
Crump again made history in 1970 by becoming the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby.
She was among several women to fight successfully in the late 60s to be granted a jockey license.
But they still needed a trainer willing to put them in a race, and then for the race to run. Others were thwarted when male jockeys boycotted or threatened to boycott if a woman was riding.
Photographs of Crump's walk to the saddling area at Hialeah show her protected by security guards as a crowd pressed in on all sides.
Six of the original 12 jockeys in the race refused to ride.
Crump, on a 50-1 long-shot called Bridle 'n Bit, finished 10th, but the barrier had been broken. A month later, Bridle 'n Bit gave Crump her first victory at Gulfstream Park in Florida.
After her history-making appearance at the Kentucky Derby in 1970, when she rode Fathom to 15th place at Louisville's Churchill Downs, it would be 14 years before another female jockey would ride in the revered Triple Crown race.
Only four more have followed in the decades since.
Churchill Downs racetrack president Mike Anderson was among those to pay tribute to Crump.
"[She] will be forever respected and fondly remembered in horse racing lore," Anderson said in a statement.
Chris Goodlett, of the Kentucky Derby Museum, said: "Diane Crump's name stands for courage, grit and progress."
After retiring from racing, Crump settled in Virginia and started a business helping people buy and sell horses.
AP