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Napravnik, 25, bidding to become the first
female jockey to win the Kentucky Derby, finished
in fifth place on Mylute in the 19-horse field in
Saturday's 139th running of the Derby. The previous
best finish by a female jockey in the Derby had
been Napravnik's ninth place in 2011 aboard Pants
on Fire.
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Bio
Snippets
Rosie is one of only six women to have ever
competed in the Kentucky Derby, the first being
Diane Crump in 1970. Rosie has highest finish by a
female (9th in 2011) and will become only the
second woman to have competed in two Kentucky
Derbys.
* * *
Anna could be out five months with a broken left
leg. when she fell Saturday during a race at
Delaware Park in Stanton, Del. Her leg was broken
in two places.
News
Rosie Napravnik rides ever
closer to making Derby history
After showering in the jockey's room for women at
Churchill Downs, Rosie Napravnik traded her
mud-caked riding garb for a rose red dress and a
big-brimmed, black Kentucky Derby hat. She wasn't
dressed for a victory party, but she had
distinguished herself.
Napravnik, 25, bidding to become the first
female jockey to win the Kentucky Derby, finished
in fifth place on Mylute in the 19-horse field in
Saturday's 139th running of the Derby. The previous
best finish by a female jockey in the Derby had
been Napravnik's ninth place in 2011 aboard Pants
on Fire.
It was just the eighth start by a female jockey
in the Derby. Napravnik now has matched Julie Krone
(14th in 1992 and 11th in 1995) with two
starts.
"If I moved four places from two years ago to
this year, then ...," said Napravnik, her voice
trailing off as she did the math in her head for
another four-place jump that would put her first
the next time.
She finished six lengths behind winning Orb.
"It was really exciting. I was excited to have
the best finish by a female," said Napravnik, who
last year became the first female jockey to win the
Kentucky Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on the Friday
before the Derby.
"We really stepped it up this year. The most
exciting thing is about this horse and how well he
ran today. I had a really wide trip (after starting
in the No. 6 position). He's very talented. He is
really for these classic distance races. And I'm
really excited. … He's really growing into a
very nice race horse.''
Earlier this year, Napravnik was riding Shanghai
Bobby, who had been a star as a 2-year-old and
might have been the favorite in the Derby.
But after Shanghai Bobby was sidelined by a
stress fracture in his hip, Napravnik switched to
Mylute, who went off in the Derby at 14-1. She had
ridden Mylute to a previous victory in an allowance
race.
"I couldn't have been more happy, well, I guess
I could have been more pleased today," she said
with a smile. "But I was really pleased with the
way he ran."
Napravnik, who started riding when she raced
ponies as a youngster in New Jersey, said she
followed the race plan from trainer Tom Amoss.
"My instructions from Tom were just let him fall
out (out of the gate) and run the way he likes to
run, which is from behind," said Napravnik.
"He's always kind of just very relaxed. He stood
in the gate like a statue, which I was thankful
for. I was a little bit further back than I
anticipated going into the first turn. But Orb, I
mean I could have touched him the whole way around
there.
"So we got a pretty good trip other than going
wide. A lot of times that's the winning move. And
obviously today it was Orb's.''
Revolutionary, ridden by three-time Derby winner
Calvin Borel, took third. Normandy Invasion, ridden
by veteran Javier Castellano, was fourth.
Of course, Napravnik was the lone female rider
in the Derby.
"I have never wanted to win a photo (finish) for
third so bad in my life," she said.
Source: www.thetowntalk.com/article/20130504/SPORTS/130504020/Rosie-Napravnik-rides-ever-closer-making-Derby-history
Kentucky
Derby 2013: Rosie Napravnik aiming to be first
female Derby winner
Rosie Napravnik isn't worried about history. She
knows that will take care of itself.
Just to hedge her chances, though, the
25-year-old jockey is working on her chemistry with
a long shot named Mylute in Saturday's Kentucky
Derby.
Two years after achieving the best finish by a
female jockey in the Derby, she will try to become
the first woman to win it. Napravnik's pursuit of
the milestone comes a year after she became the
first female rider to win the Kentucky Oaks, the
second-biggest race on Churchill Downs' marquee
weekend.
Mylute is a 15-1 shot to win the Derby, but his
last win came in December with Napravnik aboard.
That performance offered a glimpse into her ability
to get the most out of a horse, something she has
shown in being the leading rider at four
tracks.
Doing it again Saturday could make Derby
history.
Napravnik is confident that Mylute could make it
happen.
"Mylute will definitely come from off the pace
because that's his style," said Napravnik, who will
start from the No. 6 post position. "That's not a
bad style to have when the race is a mile and a
quarter. It's very long, so if you can have a horse
that can stay relaxed in the first part, that's
definitely to your advantage."
For her part Napravnik has been more relaxed
preparing for her second Derby appearance. That
hasn't been easy considering the barrage of media
requests asking about her attempt to do what six
women, including herself, have failed to do in 138
previous Derbys against male jockeys.
Napravnik is well aware of that history and
tectonic impact her victory could have. But that
quest is two days away, and the New Jersey native
is simply embracing the attention her presence has
brought to the sport.
Having gone through the Derby experience in 2011
while guiding Pants On Fire to a ninth-place
finish, Napravnik feels more like a veteran the
second time around.
"It's nice to have the experience of when I was
here two years ago," she said. "It's a little less
overwhelming and I know what to expect. I've been
able to handle it better.
"A lot has happened in my career since I was
here two years ago. I think I've been more
recognized, it's very flattering and everybody has
been very positive. Winning the Kentucky Oaks last
year was probably the greatest moment of my
career."
As it turned out, Napravnik's breakthrough
victory aboard Believe You Can in the Oaks was just
the first of several big moments. She rode Shanghai
Bobby to five wins including the Breeders' Cup
Juvenile at Santa Anita, helping the colt claim the
2-year-old championship.
A couple of months later she climbed aboard
Mylute at Fair Grounds Race Course near New Orleans
and immediately forged a bond that led to a second
mount in the Derby. The horse earned his second
career win by nearly 11 lengths on Dec. 26, his
best effort in nine starts.
Napravnik went on to be Fair Grounds' top rider
for the third straight year, adding similar honors
at Laurel, Pimlico and Delaware Park.
"We're lucky to have her," Amoss said of
Napravnik. "It may be a bit surprising that she was
available for theKentucky Derby with what I thought
about her being very much in demand. But their loss
is our gain."
Amoss struggles for an exact description of
Napravnik's success but notes that her ability to
connect quickly with her mounts. The only other
jockey he has seen with that talent is Hall of
Famer Pat Day, which is saying something.
At the same time, Amoss notes Napravnik's
businesslike demeanor that has helped her deal with
being in a male-dominated sport. Not to mention,
all the attention she has gotten this week.
Napravnik is all smiles when it comes to the
horse and specifically Mylute. She has been pleased
with his breezes this week and looks forward to
Saturday and a possible brush with history.
"He feels great, he's acting great and I'm very
confident heading into the Derby," she said.
"Hopefully, we can make history."
Source: aol.sportingnews.com/sport/story/2013-05-03/triple-crown-kentucky-derby-2013-rosie-napravnik-female-jockey?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl2%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D308387
Danica has nothing on
Rosie
It isn't rare to see a female horse jockey, but it
is rare to find one with a usable sex appeal. She
made "The 20 Hottest Redheads in Sports" list in
2012. And Rosie is also one of the most talented
female jockey's of all time, having finished in
ninth place during the 2011 Kentucky Derby, the
highest finish by a woman, ever.
Source: bleacherreport.com/articles/1165206-the-20-hottest-redheads-in-sports/page/3
Sassy
and savvy
Anna Rosie Napravnik has 221 victories in 51 weeks,
making her the fifth-winningest jockey in the
country this year — and she can’t even
legally drink a beer to celebrate.
With flaming red hair and a sassy attitude, the
18-year-old apprentice sensation is the talk of the
industry after winning the riding title at Laurel
Park in the spring and leading the roster now at
Pimlico.
Sitting in the women’s jockey room at
Pimlico on a recent afternoon, Napravnik looks like
the typical teenager. She fiddles with the
sunglasses perched on her head and checks for
missed calls on her pink cell phone, which is
clipped to the waistband of tight blue jeans.
Platform wedge sandals show off her pink-painted
toenails.
But Napravnik is the first to admit she’s
not typical.
“Not at all,” she says. “But I
don’t think I’m the typical high school
dropout, either. ”
The decision to leave school after two years at
Hereford High was a tough one, but Napravnik says
it wasn’t regrettable; she’ll take her
high school equivalency test in July. Her version
of the real world includes a lot of attention and
money — her earnings total more than $4
million and she’s looking for a house to buy
— but she’s sometimes lonely.
“I didn’t have any friends in
Hereford,” she says. “I was too tired and
grumpy for friends.”
Now with a serious boyfriend, she said she
spends even her off time with friends from the
track, talking about the track. But even that time
is limited: On busy days, she races as many as nine
times before returning to her Laurel apartment,
eating dinner and heading to bed.
The Laurel race season spans January through
April and, at Pimlico, April through July. In the
summer, she works the Timonium Fair circuit and a
summer meeting at Pimlico in August. On off days,
she travels to Delaware Park to race.
“I don’t have a lot of time to spend
doing nothing,” she said. “It’s very
tiring.”
The Homestretch
With a brother named Colt, horses must run in
Napravnik’s family.
Charles Napravnik said Colt was his only child
who didn’t get interested in the horses on the
family’s organic farm outside Asbury, N.J.
Rosie and her older sister, Jasmine, helped her
mother, who trained horses and managed a boarding
business. The family didn’t have a television
— too much junk on it, Charles says — so
horses kept the girls busy.
“After school, they went to the barn,”
he said. “They did pony club, horse shows.
There wasn’t time for much else.”
When Napravnik was 15, she took a year off from
horses to try her hand at just being a
teenager.
“I was sick of it,” she said. “I
decided I wanted to have nothing to do with horses
for a year.”
When Napravnik’s parents divorced two
summers ago, Rosie, 16 at the time, moved to
northern Baltimore County to live with Jasmine, who
was assisting local trainer Holly Robinson. Rosie
began helping Jasmine, 23, and Robinson, heading to
the barns at 4 a.m. while balancing schoolwork at
Hereford.
After her junior year ended last June, Napravnik
decided she was ready to race professionally and
mounted Ringofdiamonds for her first start.
She won.
In Laurel Park’s winter meet, she won 99
races in 72 days, earning $1.6 million —
$600,000 more than her nearest competitor.
Despite her instant success, two agents turned
Napravnik down before Pimlico trainer Richard Small
introduced her to John Faltynski. She says they
just saw her as another girl jockey who wanted to
ride with the boys.
But Faltynski, a longtime agent, marked his turf
as an industry legend when he took on Julie Krone,
who became the only woman to ride a winner of a
Triple Crown race (Colonial Affair in the 1993
Belmont) and retired as the all-time winningest
female jockey with 3,545 victories.
Faltynski, 52, takes girls seriously.
“I just looked at
[Napravnik’s] physique and saw how
pretty she is, and I knew she would be so
sellable,” Faltynski said. “It was a
match made in heaven.”
Though Faltynski acknowledges Napravnik gets
feisty at times — after a brief losing streak
one recent afternoon, she grumbled about the
presence of several reporters clamoring for her
photograph — he insists she’s a
“pleasure” to work with.
And while some jockeys work out wrapped in
plastic on hot summer days, Napravnik says she
maintains her 108-pound frame by working out on the
horses. Some nights, Faltynski said, she tells him
she’s too exhausted after racing to work other
horses, but she will be in before the sun is up the
next morning.
Faltynski credits Napravnik’s success to
that dedication and sheer love for horses.
“She gives me my space, and I give her
hers,” he said. “I’m a fan, totally
a fan. I can’t believe I get to work with a
kid like this.”
Blinkers On
On a recent day, Faltynski said seven owners
listed Napravnik to ride their horse in the same
race.
Napravnik jokes that she pays Faltynski
“the big bucks” to choose which horse she
rides in each race, evaluating past mounts,
temperaments and odds. Choosing which horse to put
his client on is what Faltynski called the toughest
part of his job.
“You hurt people’s feelings every
day,” he said. “One owner is going to be
elated — because that one’s going to the
winner’s circle.”
Napravnik, meanwhile, is slowly learning to
adjust to life in the spotlight. She’s
developing a keen sense of image — she hides a
box of cookies in her locker — and smart
business sense.
In an interview with The Examiner, Napravnik
chooses her words carefully and is cautious not to
divulge too much about her personal life.
“I don’t think it’s smart for
business,” she says. “The longer I stay
around, the better I can establish myself and get
my name out there. Every decision you make impacts
your career.”
Meanwhile, she just keeps winning.
In March, she won the Private Terms Stakes on a
horse with 74-1 odds. On Preakness Day, she won the
Grey Goose turf race, which came with a $100,000
purse. This season at Pimlico, she captured 56
wins, more than double that of her closest
competitor.
So what’s next for the young star?
“The sky’s the limit,” Napravnik
said. “I just want to keep this up.”
Source: E-Mail
or www.examiner.com/a-133097~Sassy_and_savvy.html
Results
Schedule
2013 Kentucky Derby
* * *
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