Hialeah Race Marked Her Maiden Voyage

She finished in 10th place on a 50-1 shot, but it was also a landmark horse race.

And when Diane Crump was done wiping the sloppy track’s mud off her face, everyone saw she wore a big smile.

She became the first female jockey to ride in a U.S. parimutuel race on this date at Miami’s Hialeah Race Track, in the seventh race.

When she emerged from a special dressing room in red and white silks that day, most in a crowd of 5,000 cheered, though one man yelled, “Why don’t you stay home and do the cooking?”

Crump’s horse, Bridle ‘N Bit, wasn’t much, according to jockey Manuel Ycaza, who watched from trackside.

“She broke well, kept her horse out of trouble and drove him when she should have,” Ycaza said. “I don’t know what anyone else could’ve done with the horse.”

Also on this date: In 1982, the Mets made George Foster baseball’s first $2-million man, signing him to a five-year, $10-million deal. . . . In 1976, Darryl Sittler of the Toronto Maple Leafs had 10 points on six goals and four assists in an 11-4 win over Boston, the highest one-game NHL point total ever. . . . In 1949, the Yankees boosted Joe DiMaggio’s salary to $90,000, while the Indians signed Bob Feller to a $40,000 contract. The Dodgers, on the same day, boosted Jackie Robinson’s pay by $5,000, to $20,000. . . . In 1959, baseball Hall of Famer Napoleon Lajoie died at 83. . . . In 1990, Inglewood Morningside High School basketball player Lisa Leslie scored 101 points in the first half against South Torrance High. At halftime, the South Torrance coach put his team on the bus, refusing to play the second half. Leslie made 37 of 56 shots and 27 of 35 free throws in the 102-24 victory. . . . In 1966, Wilt Chamberlain scored 65 points to lead Philadelphia to a 132-125 win over the Lakers.