Diane Crump, the pioneering Thoroughbred jockey whose riding breakthroughs set the stage for generations of female riders, died Jan. 1 at an inpatient hospice facility in Winchester, Va. She was 77.
In recent months, she had battled an aggressive brain cancer known as glioblastoma.
Crump, involved with horses from her youth until the final months of her life, was best known for becoming the first woman to compete as a licensed jockey at a United States racetrack when she rode Bridle 'n Bit in a race Feb. 7, 1969, at Hialeah Park in South Florida. Her ride aboard Bridle 'n Bit did not result in victory, but it marked a shift in American racing. A year later, she would break even more ground by becoming the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.
"It always impacted me, being the first female jockey," Crump said during a 2017 interview with America's Best Racing. "I have one little footprint in history that turned a corner not just for women's rights, but equal rights. Maybe that opened it up for equal rights, and that's important to me. Wherever you go now, women have the opportunity to ride and that's awesome. It gave all of us a chance to do what was in our hearts and that to me was important."
Though Crump's Derby mount, Fathom, was a nonfactor, finishing 15th in a field of 17, having a woman in the saddle for America's greatest race opened doors for other female riders in the decades that followed. Besides Crump, the other women who have ridden in the Kentucky Derby include Patricia Cooksey, Andrea Seefeldt, Julie Krone, Rosemary Homeister Jr., and Rosie Napravnik.
In a statement released by Jan. 2 by Churchill Downs, racetrack president Mike Anderson called Crump "an iconic trailblazer who admirably fulfilled her childhood dreams" and said she "will forever be respected and fondly remembered in horse racing lore."
Crump's story made her the subject of the biography "A Woman in the Starting Gate," authored by Mark Shrager, and the Christine Lalonde-produced and directed documentary "Darling of the Derby."
Crump was married to Fathom's trainer, Don Divine, from 1969 to 1987. They had a daughter, Della.
"She was very stubborn, just never understood the word no, which could be frustrating," Della Payne said Jan. 2. "But her friends reminded me that's why she was able to accomplish what she accomplished, because she never took no for an answer. She fought hard."
Besides Della, Crump is survived by a sister, Linda Suave; a brother, Burt Crump; and three grandchildren: Farah Payne, Blake Payne, and Lenah Payne. Her ex-husband, Divine, died in 2013 at age 86.
Della Payne recalled how Burt Crump found out that his sister was riding in the Kentucky Derby. While serving in Vietnam, Burt was called over by fellow servicemen who were listening to a radio broadcast of the 1970 Run for the Roses.
"They said, 'Hey, there's some woman with the same last name as you in the Derby, and he said, 'Well, let me hear that,'" Payne said of the story she was told. "He didn't know, but that was his sister, and they all listened to it together in Vietnam."
Crump became horse-centric early in life, and even in her senior years worked around them and other animals, including her three treasured miniature dachshunds.
She grew up in Milford, Conn., as "the only person in her family to ever ride a horse, think about a horse," Payne said, noting her mother became singularly focused on riding horses after her first pony ride at age 4.
Later she and her parents "moved to Florida, I think to the Tampa region, and the old farm they bought had two old horses with it that came with it. They hadn't been touched in forever ... That was her first project, and one day she stumbled upon Tampa Bay Downs, and the rest was history."
Crump rode from 1969-98, registering 228 victories. She endured open hostility at times related to being a female in a male-dominated sport and experienced serious injuries, including breaking her tibia, fibula, a knee, and an ankle.
"I remember the doctor said, 'I hope you're not Catholic.' And she said, 'Why?' He said, 'Because you're never gonna kneel again,'" her daughter recalled. "But she went back to riding races."
She continued riding until accumulated injuries led to her retirement.
Crump began training Thoroughbred racehorses, winning 14 races from 253 starters from 1990-98, according to Equibase. She then established Diane Crump Equine Sales as an agent in the sporthorse community in Virginia. She began residing in Lindon, Va., in the early 2000s.
In Virginia, she devoted herself to animal-assisted therapy, volunteering for more than a decade in hospitals, assisted-living facilities, and hospice care.
Friends and those with whom she interacted would later offer support to Crump. A celebration of her life was held in November, while she was alive to appreciate it. On Christmas Eve, she visited her home one last time.
A date has not been established for a memorial service, but plans call for Crump's cremated remains to be interred within her parents' casket.
