Former jockey, mother and advocate for thoroughbreds after their racing careers, Rosie Napravnik is this week’s The Player’s Edge Guest.
She joins the Terry, Tom, Shawn and Rich to discuss her career and make some picks for Fair Grounds Saturday races. A track she knows very well, winning multiple jockey titles at the Louisiana track.
Make sure you follow Rosie and all the good work she does on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RosieNapravnik
Q&A with Rosie Napravnik
HRT: You were introduced to horse racing very early, tell us about riding in the Pony Club?
Rosie Napravnik
Credit: Hodges Photography
Rosie Napravnik: Riding in Pony Club was key to the foundation of my horsemanship. It’s like starting horse college in 1st grade. There is just as much unmounted learning as there is mounted. When I was a kid, I didn’t quite appreciate it because I just wanted to get on my pony and go fast, but now I can see how valuable it was and how privileged I was to start off with such a great education in horses.
HRT: Do you remember the first time you won a pony race? The horse’s name and what about that race stands out?
Rosie Napravnik: I think the first time I won a race was at a Point to Point Steeplechase called The Pennsylvania Hunt cup. I remember wanting that win so bad that I kept looking behind me in the stretch and weaving in front of my opponents. The stewards were lenient with me but I absolutely would have been disqualified in a professional race.
HRT: At 17 you started racing thoroughbreds. Your first race was your first trip to the winners’ circle, how did it feel for the first win so quickly?
Rosie Napravnik: Winning my first professional race was a bit surreal. Looking back on how little I knew then seems crazy to think I was even riding a race. I remember I had been waiting so long to fulfill my dream of becoming a jockey that I couldn’t believe it was actually happening. I went wire to wire on the favorite, so it definitely was no miraculous ride, but an example of having such great supporters behind me!
HRT: Which means more to you, the maiden pony or thoroughbred score and why?
Rosie Napravnik: Riding in “real” races was my dream so winning my first race at Pimlico was a big deal.
HRT: You were a trailblazer, the first woman to win the Louisiana Derby twice; the first to win the Kentucky Oaks twice; the first to ride in all three legs of the Triple Crown, two-time Breeders’ Cup winner and much more. Of all the trails blazed, which makes you the proudest and why?
Rosie Napravnik: I consider the women of the generations before me the Trail Blazers. Believe me the trail was blazed by those who stood up to boycotting and much more resistance to ride than what I ever experienced. My accomplishments on the racetrack are far more than what I ever imagined possible, and I’m proud of all of them.
Ironically, I consider some of my greatest career highlights off the track. The standing ovation I received when presenting an Eclipse award after my retirement, a conversation I had with Angel Cordero the summer before I retired where he eluded to my potential to be the best rider in the country, riding regularly for top trainers like Steve Asmussen, Todd Pletcher and Bob Baffert, as well as the 4 consecutive riding titles I won at the Fairgrounds, which was considered by many to be one of the toughest jockey colonies in the country to ride in. They were tough on me, and I gained their respect, which was one of the most important things for me.
HRT: What part of horse racing was harder for you as a female? And what part would you say was easier as a woman?
Rosie Napravnik: Being a jockey is hard. It’s a hard lifestyle no matter who you are. Being female mostly worked to my advantage. Just think, there were 137 jockeys who won the KY Oaks before I did but I’m pretty sure I got the most recognition.
HRT: You credit much of your success to outworking the competition as a jockey. You mentioned analyzing the Daily Racing Form. How does a jockey look at past performances differently than a horseplayer?
Rosie Napravnik: The difference between a jockey and a horseplayer handicapping a race is that a horseplayer is trying to figure out who will win. A jockey is trying to figure out how to make their horse the winner.
HRT: At 26-years old, you walked away from the game at the top of your game. Do you ever think what if and what would it take for you to mount up again?
Rosie Napravnik: When I made the decision to try getting pregnant, I considered that there would always be an exciting horse to stay in the game for. There would never be a good time to walk away. That’s the addiction of racing as an owner, trainer, rider. I have no regrets at all and cherish the way my career ended.
HRT: You are married to trainer Joe Sharp. What involvement do you have with Joe’s horses?
Rosie Napravnik: When I retired, I was Joe’s assistant at the track. I was burnt out pretty quickly working through both of my pregnancies. I now run a rehab and retraining program at our farm in Kentucky. I rehab most of Joes horses who have injuries at the track, and I retrain those who are ready to move on into second careers.
HRT: Today, you are involved with Off-Track Sporthorses, what is that all about?
Rosie Napravnik: Off-Track Sporthorses is the name of my business where I transition retired racehorses into second careers. It has become a passion for me, just as great as riding races once was for me.
HRT: You have two-young boys, they look like they had fun pony racing on Twitter. Are you going to start pony racing in Kentucky?
Rosie Napravnik: I would love to organize pony racing in Kentucky. There is a great absence here for the riding I did when I was a kid. Liability is a bit more challenging now than it was years ago so that is where we are struggling to get started. I’ve held Pony racing clinics at my farm last summer and got a great reception.
HRT: If folks want to help with sporthorses or pony races, how can they do that?
Rosie Napravnik: OTS is a for profit business, whose mission is to advocate for quality training of OTTB‘s in second careers and their value in other disciplines. For this we need the support of the racing owners to responsibly retire their horses sound so that we can showcase them and continue to show how versatile and trainable they are. The Retired Racehorse Project has done an amazing job of giving us a platform from which to display that.
I also work with New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program which is the oldest and largest racehorse adoption program in the country. New Vocations is a nonprofit and serves more than 550 horses a year and runs on donations. 70% of the horses that enter the program are in need of rehab before they can move on to a new career which can be lengthy and expensive. If you would like to help support New Vocations you can visit newvocations.org.
My hope is that we can get pony racing off the ground in Kentucky. When we do, we will likely be looking for sponsors to help us showcase the most fun a kid has ever had on the back of a pony!
