Trailblazing female jockey Diane Crump dies at 77

Diane Crump, who in 1969 became the first woman to ride professionally in a horse race and a year later became the first female jockey in the Kentucky Derby, has died. She was 77. Her daughter says she died Thursday night in hospice care in Winchester, Virginia, three months after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. The racetrack president at Churchill Downs said in a statement that Crump “will be forever respected and fondly remembered in horse racing lore.” After Crump made history in 1970, it would be 14 more years before another female jockey would ride in the Derby.