They’re Off! Rosie Napravnik: Another Successful Season

“When I was a kid I played co-ed soccer and saw no difference in ability between a man and a woman,” Rosie commented. “As I grew up, I found out that wasn’t true, but I still didn’t realize that my gender was really going to be a big deal, because I thought that era was over. I feel my ignorance of all this made it no issue for me! As I was able to establish myself as a jockey, I realize I can do anything male jockeys do. I don’t feel like I have had any lack of opportunity.”

Triple threat! That defines Rosie Napravnik to a T. By equestrian standards, this 26-year-old shining star has strength beyond imagination and has taken the thoroughbred racing arena by storm, defying its male-dominated ranks.

Rosie made history in 2013 when she rode her way to becoming the first female jockey to contest all three jewels of the Triple Crown. First, she teamed with colt Mylute to finish fifth in the Kentucky Derby, then third in the Preakness Stakes. Next she rode the Todd Pletcher-trained filly Unlimited Budget to a sixth-place finish in the Belmont Stakes.

With an astonishing 269 wins, she placed fifth among all North American jockeys. Forty-four of those victories came in stakes races, putting her fourth in that category. Highlights included Grade I triumphs in the $250,000 Chandelier Stakes at Santa Anita Park, the $300,000 Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park, and the $500,000 Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park. Those victories contributed to her impressive year-end purse earnings total of $13,242,202, eighth in the North American standings. Her staggering 22 percent of wins to starts, or win clip, was the highest among the top 25 jockeys on the earnings leader board.

In 2012, Rosie wrapped up an incredible season by landing in the highest spot ever for a female jockey on the year-end North American leader board. Her $12,451,713 total put her in eighth place in purse earnings. Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone set the record in 1988 when she finished the year in ninth place. Julie equaled that finish in 1992, and the record went on to stand for the next two decades. But Rosie has now bested the old mark in back-to-back seasons.

In 2012, Rosie became the first female rider in the 138-year history of the Kentucky Oaks to capture that storied race when she brought home the signature garland of lilies aboard the Larry Jones-trained filly Believe You Can. She also became the second female rider in history to win a coveted Breeders’ Cup World Championship race when she piloted eventual Eclipse Award winner Shanghai Bobby to a nail-biting victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. It was the fifth win in Shanghai Bobby’s undefeated 2012 campaign.

Becoming the first woman in history to win the $1 million Louisiana Derby and subsequent meet title at the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in 2011 wasn’t enough. Rosie went on to capture her second Fair Grounds meet title in March 2012 with 111 wins. She added a third title in March 2013 with 125 wins.

Undaunted by the prospect of competing against the nation’s best jockeys, this driven young lady moved her tack to New York to ride the New York Racing Association (NYRA) circuit full time in the spring of 2012. The strong competition did little to curb her success, as she finished fourth in the standings at Belmont Park’s spring/summer meet. Noteworthy among her 35 victories was her triumph in the Peter Pan Stakes aboard Mark Valeski.

Rosie finished eighth in the standings with 21 winners at her first full meet at the prestigious Saratoga Race Course in 2012. Her conquests included the Hopeful Stakes aboard Shanghai Bobby, the Sanford Stakes atop Bern Identity, and the Adirondack Stakes on Kauai Katie.

She currently sits in fifth place in wins, with 125 so far in 2014, and is sixth in year-to-date earnings at $6,367,156 on the North American leader board. She won this year’s Kentucky Oaks aboard Untapable, captured her fourth consecutive Fair Grounds Race Course meet title and reached 31 wins at the Churchill Downs Spring Meet before a training mishap sidelined her.

Raised in High Bridge, New Jersey, Rosie has been in a saddle ever since she can remember. Her father, Charles, is a farrier and her mother, Cindy, ran a boarding and training stable and trained event horses. She has an older sister, Jasmine, known as Jazz, and a brother, Colt. Her first horse-related injury was a broken arm that occurred when she fell off a pony at age four. By the age of seven, she began to ride in pony races, and, inspired by the documentary Jewels of the Triple Crown, she decided at that young age she wanted to become a jockey who rode Triple Crown races. “This is my passion—it’s in my blood,” Rosie asserted. She spent most of her childhood in New Jersey, but she lived briefly in Vermont with her mother after her parents divorced and spent summers with her sister, who was living in Maryland and Pennsylvania and is also an accomplished horsewoman.

Rosie traveled to Maryland, Virginia and Delaware to participate in pony races, which were held at steeplechase meets. She trained her race ponies as if they were thoroughbreds, including one of her favorites, Sweet Sensation, a 12-hand Welsh Mountain pony that won almost every competition around. She competed on the pony until she graduated to riding the junior horse circuit. She also spent time exercising horses for renowned trainers such as Jonathan Sheppard and Dickie Small. Sweet Sensation remained in her family until his death in October 2012 at the age of 28.

At 16, Rosie took out a license with the National Steeplechase Association and learned to ride training flat races during the steeplechase meets, riding against experienced steeplechase riders to develop her skills. That summer she moved in with her sister, who at the time was working as an assistant to thoroughbred trainer Holly Robinson, to gallop horses. Coaching from Robinson and Small led to her taking out her jockey’s license when she turned 17.

“I think as much as I had established myself as a good or competitive rider, I don’t know what the guys in New Orleans thought of me before I came to the Fair Grounds Race Course in 2011,” Rosie noted. “I’m sure they heard I’d ridden in New York and Maryland and done well, but you don’t really know that or believe it until you ride with someone and can see for yourself that they can be competitive. The boys down there tested me a bit when I first got there. But all I did was keep my mouth shut and push back. And by the end of Fair Grounds, I really felt like everybody was happy for me having won the Louisiana Derby and the meet. Even the guys who gave me a hard time in the beginning found a respect for me, and I appreciate that, because a lot of times when you do well, you don’t have friends.

“The success and leading rider titles mean a lot to other people, so when I can say, ‘I was leading rider at Fair Grounds,’ that merits an immediate respect,” she elaborated. “That helps tremendously, and the more good outfits I end up riding for, the more good outfits are attracted to that. When you get a shot from someone you’re not expecting, that’s a huge eye-opener to where your success is really leading you.”

While Rosie has fought past some serious injuries as a result of this rigorous and demanding sport, she actually began racing as A.R. Napravnik so no one would know she was female. “When I was a kid I played co-ed soccer and saw no difference in ability between a man and a woman,” she commented. “As I grew up, I found out that wasn’t true, but I still didn’t realize that my gender was really going to be a big deal, because I thought that era was over. I feel my ignorance of all this made it no issue for me! As I was able to establish myself as a jockey, I realize I can do anything male jockeys do. I don’t feel like I have had any lack of opportunity.”

Rosie and Joe Sharp married in October 2011. Joe was once a jockey and now is assistant trainer to Mike Maker. She enjoys riding in Saratoga and likes the aura that surrounds racing here. “Saratoga is different from any place I’ve ever raced,” she noted. “There are local fans and fans from across the country who come to watch, and it’s a real family atmosphere. Every day, one hundred kids line up to get autographs from the jockeys. The racing is prestigious and national, and it makes me feel like I’m becoming a part of history.”

Rosie’s successful 2014 season continues at Saratoga and will culminate on September 1 with the 110th running of the Hopeful Stakes, which she won on Shanghai Bobby two years ago. “Some of the horses end up going to the Kentucky Derby, and it’s exciting to watch!” she smiled.

To find out more about this dynamic competitor, visit facebook.com/pages/Rosie-Napravnik/159630744097718 or twitter.com/rosienapravnik.