Jane Proctor, a pioneering female jockey who rode as Jane Driggers, using her maiden name, and later married horseman Hap Proctor, has died in Florida after suffering from an aggressive, malignant brain tumor. She was 61.

Jane Proctor was extremely well known and well liked in the Pacific Northwest, where she was raised and began her career; in California, where she rode as a jockey and then as an exercise rider after marrying Hap; and in Florida, where she and her husband worked at Glen Hill Farm in Ocala, where Hap was the general manager for more than two decades.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Lynn Whiting, who reached the pinnacle of his profession by saddling Lil E. Tee to win the 1992 Kentucky Derby, died suddenly Wednesday morning from complications of a long-term illness and a recent stroke. He was 77.

A family friend said Whiting was unresponsive in his Louisville home after a fellow trainer had driven there to pick him up for work before dawn Wednesday. No further information was immediately available.

Beginning on Sept. 17 and lasting nearly seven months through last Saturday, there were 34 races in the United States and one in Dubai in which horses could earn points toward a berth in the Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs.

And now that they’ve all been run, the prospective 20-horse field has taken shape, though there are still several runners outside the top 20 whose connections want to get into the race.

WHO’S HOT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Retired jockey and exercise rider James Long, who maintained ties to the racing industry in recent years as a steward at Hazel Park in Michigan, was killed late Tuesday night in a one-car accident on Interstate 64 in Shelby County, Ky.

Long, 62, had been a mainstay on the Kentucky racing circuit for much of his career and still made his home in Frankfort, according to his longtime friend, trainer James Jackson.

“This is a really sad deal,” said Jackson.

Tom and Sandy McKenna, the owners of Conquest Mo Money, announced on Tuesday that they will not put up a $200,000 supplementary fee to run Conquest Mo Money in the Kentucky Derby on May 6 and will instead await the Preakness Stakes two weeks later. The supplementary fee for the Preakness is $150,000, which also makes the horse eligible for the Belmont Stakes.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – McCraken, one of the favorites for the 143rd Kentucky Derby, had his first breeze since incurring his first career defeat in the Blue Grass Stakes, working a sharp half-mile early Tuesday over a fast track at Churchill Downs.

With regular rider Brian Hernandez Jr. aboard, McCraken was timed in 47.80 seconds by Churchill clocker John Nichols, with out times of 1:00 for five furlongs and 1:13.40 for six furlongs.

Arrogate once again is rated the world’s best Thoroughbred in the second edition of the 2017 World Thoroughbred Rankings that were released Thursday by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities.

Eighty-one stakes races this year, including 49 scheduled at North American racetracks, will offer automatic berths in Breeders’ Cup races this year, according to the organization, with seven of the races providing the winner with a guaranteed starting slot in the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.

The connections of Classic Empire have walked a tightrope all spring trying to get the colt to the Kentucky Derby, and now they’ve got one major hurdle to clear – having Classic Empire earn sufficient points and run well enough in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on Saturday to merit a Kentucky Derby start three weeks later.