Diane Crump, the first ever woman in history to ride a horse professionally, has died at 77.
Crump, who also became the first female jockey in the Kentucky Derby after creating history as a professional horse rider in 1969, was fighting a battle with an aggressive cancer, reported The Sun Chronicle.
Her daughter, Della Payne, told the Associated Press that the 77-year-old, who was diagnosed with the aggressive brain cancer in October 2025, died on Thursday, January 1, in hospice care in Winchester, Virginia.
Mike Anderson, president of Churchill Downs racetrack, in a statement on Friday, declared Crump as a trailblazer in the horse racing sport.
He stated, “Diane Crump was an iconic trailblazer who admirably fulfilled her childhood dreams. As the first female to ride professionally at a major Thoroughbred racetrack in 1969 and to become the first female to ride in the Kentucky Derby one year later.”
“She will forever be respected and fondly remembered in horse racing lore. The entire Churchill Downs family extends our condolences to her family and friends," he added.
Crump, along with other aspiring female jockeys, challenged the male counterparts in the 1960s to get her licence.
She applied for the licence in 1968, and a year later, after breaking all the barriers in her way, she got a permit to ride at Florida's Hialeah Racetrack.
Crump’s celebrated career includes 1,682 starts, 228 wins, and over $1.29 million in earnings, as per Equibase. After a brief retirement in 1985 to focus on training horses, she returned in 1992 and rode until 1998.
