Crump, Diane (1949—)

American jockey who was the first woman to race against men in a U.S. parimutuel race and the first to ride in a Kentucky Derby. Born in Connecticut in 1949; has managed thoroughbred horse farms, including the training barn at Calumet Farms in Kentucky; later barn manager at Keysville Post Stables in Flint Hill, Virginia.

On February 7, 1969, in Hialeah, Florida, a shy, 104-pound exercise groom by the name of Diane Crump made history as the first woman to compete with men in a parimutuel race. Riding a 50-to-1 shot, Bridle N' Bit, Crump finished 10th in a 12-horse field. She went on to become the first woman to compete in the historic Kentucky Derby, at Churchill Downs, in the spring of 1970. Astride her three-year-old colt, Fathom, Crump finished 15th in a field of 17. Her maiden Derby gallop paved the way for Patricia Cooksey in 1984, who finished 11th on So Vague; Cooksey also became the first woman to compete in the Preakness, finishing 6th on Tajawa in 1985.

Crump enjoyed a 17-year career as a jockey with total earnings of over $1 million. She compiled an impressive record of 1,614 starts, with 235 wins, 204 seconds, and 203 thirds. One of her starts was the historic Lady Godiva Stakes at Suffolk Downs in Boston, on April 29, 1969, the first parimutuel horse race featuring all females. More unusual than the race was the fact that in 1969 Massachusetts had six other fully licensed women, in addition to Crump, who could compete—Penny Ann Early, Tuesdee Testa, Brenda Wilson, Robyn Smith, Barbara Adler , and Connie Hendricks . Diane Crump retired in 1986 to become a trainer.