Rosie interview
Oct 7, 2015 16:16:39 GMT -5
Post by cait on Oct 7, 2015 16:16:39 GMT -5
came across his - maybe she's having another child before returning? do you think she'll ride again? I thought so but don't know after reading this - mack?
Albany Times Union
from 8/15
Former jockey Rosie Napravnik finds joy in 'retirement,' motherhood
New Jersey native working at Saratoga Race Course to help her husband, trainer Joe Sharp
By Mark Singelais
Saratoga Springs
Rosie Napravnik used the word "retired" a few times in an interview this week, which sounded strange coming from someone who's 27 years old.
Then Napravnik, the second-most successful female jockey in American racing history, clarified what she meant.
"That's just what everybody else considers it," Napravnik said. "I obviously haven't retired by any means as far as life goes. Retired from race riding, to be more specific."
Her 1,877th and final victory came aboard champion filly Untapable in the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Santa Anita this past Oct. 31.
It was after that race she delivered the stunning news she was seven weeks' pregnant and would stop racing.
She's still active in the sport as an assistant to her husband, trainer Joe Sharp, who has a string of 38 horses at Saratoga. Having given birth to her son, Carson, on June 1, Napravnik said she doesn't plan to be a jockey ever again.
"I don't think so," Napravnik said. "I just have more reasons not to than I have reasons to go back. I accomplished far more than I ever thought possible and didn't kill myself doing it. I feel like I dodged a bullet there."
She put away her tack with achievements that are surpassed among female riders only by Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone, who is the all-time leader for victories by a woman with 3,704.
While other women have more career wins, Napravnik ranks second to Krone in career earnings with $71.3 million. Napravnik left with 13 Grade I victories, including a pair of Breeders' Cup triumphs, on Untapable and Shanghai Bobby in the 2012 Juvenile. Napravnik is the only woman to win the Kentucky Oaks, doing it twice with Believe You Can and Untapable.
Napravnik, who was especially popular with young fans, said she is often asked if she'll ever come out of retirement.
"People keep telling me, 'I'm still betting on you to come back,' and 'We've got a pool going to see when you come back,'" she said. "I say, 'I've got to get in on that.' They have a hard time believing it won't happen. Maybe they're right, but I don't plan on it."
She insisted she's enjoying the day-to-day care of horses, something Napravnik couldn't focus on when she was racing.
"She's obviously a great rider, but the part to me that's the most valuable is her horsemanship, which she's had ... ingrained in her since she was a kid," Sharp said. "Because she came from the ground up in the horse business."
Napravnik, a native of New Jersey, still does breeze horses for her husband. On a recent morning, she oversaw his thoroughbreds that were stabled at the harness track while Sharp handled business at his barn on the Oklahoma Training Track.
"I've been doing everything here at Saratoga from riding to mucking a stall once in a while when we have a lack of help," Napravnik said.
She's at the barn by about 5:30 in the morning after a babysitter comes to their rented house in Saratoga to watch her son.
"Carson is so good," Napravnik said. "He sleeps through the night. He never cries. He's absolutely the best baby anybody could ask for, and the next one will probably be a terror."
They do intend to have a second child, which would make a comeback seem even more unlikely. While the 5-foot-2 Napravnik said she feels great, she said she's "not anywhere near" her listed jockey weight of 114 pounds.
Sharp said he believes his wife when she says she's staying retired. Sharp added he even senses Napravnik doesn't enjoy galloping horses in the morning as much as she once did.
"She's had several injuries that were significant, so I think she feels like she'd be tempting fate a little bit (to race)," Sharp said. "Being a jockey is physically demanding. She put 110 percent into her riding, and she wants to put 110 percent into being a parent now."
Napravnik said she misses riding in the big races.
For the most part, though, she has directed her competitive fire into helping her husband build his operation in his second year on his own as a trainer. It's his first summer at the Spa, and Sharp is 3 for 17 with an ungraded stakes victory.
"Now I have a little baby boy to keep me occupied, and I still have all the stimulation that racing provides here in the barn," she said. "We're still winning races either way."
Albany Times Union
from 8/15
Former jockey Rosie Napravnik finds joy in 'retirement,' motherhood
New Jersey native working at Saratoga Race Course to help her husband, trainer Joe Sharp
By Mark Singelais
Saratoga Springs
Rosie Napravnik used the word "retired" a few times in an interview this week, which sounded strange coming from someone who's 27 years old.
Then Napravnik, the second-most successful female jockey in American racing history, clarified what she meant.
"That's just what everybody else considers it," Napravnik said. "I obviously haven't retired by any means as far as life goes. Retired from race riding, to be more specific."
Her 1,877th and final victory came aboard champion filly Untapable in the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Santa Anita this past Oct. 31.
It was after that race she delivered the stunning news she was seven weeks' pregnant and would stop racing.
She's still active in the sport as an assistant to her husband, trainer Joe Sharp, who has a string of 38 horses at Saratoga. Having given birth to her son, Carson, on June 1, Napravnik said she doesn't plan to be a jockey ever again.
"I don't think so," Napravnik said. "I just have more reasons not to than I have reasons to go back. I accomplished far more than I ever thought possible and didn't kill myself doing it. I feel like I dodged a bullet there."
She put away her tack with achievements that are surpassed among female riders only by Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone, who is the all-time leader for victories by a woman with 3,704.
While other women have more career wins, Napravnik ranks second to Krone in career earnings with $71.3 million. Napravnik left with 13 Grade I victories, including a pair of Breeders' Cup triumphs, on Untapable and Shanghai Bobby in the 2012 Juvenile. Napravnik is the only woman to win the Kentucky Oaks, doing it twice with Believe You Can and Untapable.
Napravnik, who was especially popular with young fans, said she is often asked if she'll ever come out of retirement.
"People keep telling me, 'I'm still betting on you to come back,' and 'We've got a pool going to see when you come back,'" she said. "I say, 'I've got to get in on that.' They have a hard time believing it won't happen. Maybe they're right, but I don't plan on it."
She insisted she's enjoying the day-to-day care of horses, something Napravnik couldn't focus on when she was racing.
"She's obviously a great rider, but the part to me that's the most valuable is her horsemanship, which she's had ... ingrained in her since she was a kid," Sharp said. "Because she came from the ground up in the horse business."
Napravnik, a native of New Jersey, still does breeze horses for her husband. On a recent morning, she oversaw his thoroughbreds that were stabled at the harness track while Sharp handled business at his barn on the Oklahoma Training Track.
"I've been doing everything here at Saratoga from riding to mucking a stall once in a while when we have a lack of help," Napravnik said.
She's at the barn by about 5:30 in the morning after a babysitter comes to their rented house in Saratoga to watch her son.
"Carson is so good," Napravnik said. "He sleeps through the night. He never cries. He's absolutely the best baby anybody could ask for, and the next one will probably be a terror."
They do intend to have a second child, which would make a comeback seem even more unlikely. While the 5-foot-2 Napravnik said she feels great, she said she's "not anywhere near" her listed jockey weight of 114 pounds.
Sharp said he believes his wife when she says she's staying retired. Sharp added he even senses Napravnik doesn't enjoy galloping horses in the morning as much as she once did.
"She's had several injuries that were significant, so I think she feels like she'd be tempting fate a little bit (to race)," Sharp said. "Being a jockey is physically demanding. She put 110 percent into her riding, and she wants to put 110 percent into being a parent now."
Napravnik said she misses riding in the big races.
For the most part, though, she has directed her competitive fire into helping her husband build his operation in his second year on his own as a trainer. It's his first summer at the Spa, and Sharp is 3 for 17 with an ungraded stakes victory.
"Now I have a little baby boy to keep me occupied, and I still have all the stimulation that racing provides here in the barn," she said. "We're still winning races either way."