Team of Sharp, Napravnik Difficult to Beat

Racehorse trainer Joe Sharp riding wife Rosie Napravnik's horse during last year's Thoroughbreds for All event. Sharp and Napravnik, now retired from riding professionally, looks like a formidible team as the 2015 meet at Saratoga kicks off. (Photo by Melissa Bauer-Herzog) 
By Tom Pedulla, America’s Best Racing
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Rosie Napravnik, who enjoyed a dramatic rise to become one of the most prominent female jockeys in history, returned to horseback three days ago. That does not mean she is contemplating a comeback.
Her role these days is all about nurturing, whether that means aiding the rapidly emerging stable led by her husband, Joe Sharp, or tending to the needs of their infant son, Carson Wayne.
Napravnik, 27, quickly dismissed any prospect of a return when she said on Saturday, “I don’t plan on it. There are many more reasons not to go back to riding than there are to do it.”
She noted that she and Sharp would like to have a second child. She emphasized she has no intention of being a long-distance mom, something a resumption of her riding career would require.
“I want to raise them as opposed to having a nanny raise them,” she said. “I put 110 percent into my riding. I want to put 110 percent into being a mother.”
NAPRAVNIK ANNOUNCING HER RETIREMENT ON TV AFTER WINNING 2014 BREEDERS' CUP DISTAFF

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
Napravnik noticeably brightened when asked about Carson Wayne, who weighed six pounds and 15 ounces when he was born on June 1.
“It gets more exciting every day,” she said. “There are new firsts every day. The first time he smiled, the first time he held his head up. It’s so exciting. There is nothing like it.”
The more Napravnik spoke, the clearer it became that no on-track accomplishment compares to the joys of motherhood for her. She was the first female jockey to win the Kentucky Oaks, accomplishing that with aptly named Believe You Can in 2012 and taking the prestigious race for 3-year-old fillies in 2014 with Untapable. She also owns the highest finish for a female rider in the Kentucky Derby, when she came home fifth with Mylute in 2013.
Although there was still the unfinished business of winning the Kentucky Derby and the other Triple Crown races, Napravnik insisted she left the jockeys’ room with no regrets.
“I accomplished far more than I ever thought I would,” she said.
NAPRAVNIK WINNING 2012 KENTUCKY OAKS WITH BELIEVE YOU CAN

Her greatest desire now is to raise children whose values and worth ethic will help them to realize their dreams. She wants to do everything possible to assist Sharp in a highly competitive business. She began exercising horses for him because she missed being around the barn and he values the insight she can provide.
“We work really well together,” said Napravnik, adding, “He’s the boss. I do things the way he likes it.”
Said Sharp: “It makes it twice as much fun to do it together. She’s a huge asset at home and in the office.”
Sharp, a former assistant to prominent trainer Mike Maker, appears to be on a fast track to success in only his first year on his own. He started with five horses and now has 75 under his care, approximately 35 of those 2-year-olds.
“We have some nice opportunities with some good 2-year-olds,” he said. “Now is the time to display what we can do with them. I’m confident we’re on the right track.”
He also has shown an uncanny ability to find talent in certain claiming-level horses that others could not uncover. Aztec Brave, claimed for $30,000 last fall, emerged as a winner of the $100,000 Danger’s Hour Stakes at Aqueduct. He also discovered One King’s Man, winner of the Maryland Sprint Handicap as part of the Preakness Stakes undercard, in the claiming ranks.
SHARP (center, in pink shirt) AFTER WINNING THE MARYLAND SPRINT HANDICAP WITH SANDBAR

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
Sharp is grateful to Maker for the three years he served as his understudy.
“He was very good about including me on everything and explaining why he was doing certain things,” he said. “When it was time [to leave], he was supportive.”
As the 40-day meet at Saratoga Race Course unfolds, the team of Sharp and Napravnik may be difficult to beat.