Cheryl White, the first African-American female jockey in the United States, died in her home state of Ohio on Saturday after a recent illness, according to several of her friends. White was 65 and was living in Youngstown, Ohio. In recent years, she has worked as a patrol judge, clerk of scales and filled in as a steward at Mahoning Valley Racecourse. She had worked in recent years at Thistledown, her friends said. Born in Cleveland, White began riding in June 1971 at the age of 17 for her father, trainer Raymond White. She finished last with her first two mounts before the local stewards gave her an apprentice license. “I didn’t expect to win,” White told the Chicago Daily Defender in 1971. “I expected to be nervous, but found out I wasn’t. I just wanted to look as good as I could because I knew the stewards were watching me.” White’s first victory came in September of that year at Waterford Park in West Virginia, which is now known as Mountaineer Park. Her groundbreaking role in racing led to national publicity. White appeared on the cover of Jet Magazine in the summer of 1971. White rode briefly in California in 1974, and moved to the state the following year where she excelled on the Northern California fair circuit, particularly aboard Appaloosas through the 1970s and 1980s. White retired in 1992, and later appeared in a charity race for retired female riders at Pimlico on four occasions earlier this decade. White was inducted into the Appaloosa Hall of Fame for her success with the breed in 2011. Toward the end of her career in California, White focused on the fair circuit and the night meeting at Los Alamitos. Her final win in the state was a $20,000 stakes for Arabians at Los Alamitos in July 1992. After her retirement, White worked as a steward’s aide and a racing official at Southern California tracks before moving to Ohio. ◗ Trainer Matt Chew was fined $1,500 by Los Alamitos stewards on Sunday after one of his runners was a late scratch at Del Mar last month for being treated with a throat spray after being entered to race. Chew was cited after Brazilian Summer was administered a throat spray via a nebulizer, according to a ruling issued on Sunday. Brazilian Summer was scratched from the fifth race on Aug. 14, a $50,000 claiming race for California-bred maidens.