Napravnik Hopes to Make Indiana Derby History
When Rosie Napravnik gets a leg up on Vicar’s in Trouble Saturday, Oct. 4 for the 20th running of the Grade II $500,000-added Indiana Derby, she will be riding for more than a victory for trainer Mike Maker. Napravnik becomes only the second female rider to compete in the Indiana Derby and will be one of the favorites to win the richest Thoroughbred race in the state of Indiana at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino.
Napravnik, who began riding in 2005, has made national headlines over the past three years as her talent continues to shine through. A native of New Jersey, her riding career began on the Maryland circuit but was quickly catapulted onto the national scene. With more than 1,800 career wins, she has already won 14 Graded Stakes races this year, including the Grade I Kentucky Oaks, her second title in the event. Napravnik is the only female to compete in all three of the Triple Crown races and only the second to win a Breeders’ Cup race, joining Julie Krone for that honor.
This year has been a stellar year for Napravnik with a lot of that success aboard Vicar’s in Trouble, winner of the $1 million Louisiana Derby, starter in the Kentucky Derby and winner in his last start by seven and one-quarter lengths in the $400,000 Grade II Super Derby at Louisiana Downs. Vicar’s in Trouble comes into the Indiana Derby for owners Sarah and Ken Ramsey with more than $1.1 million in career earnings with only one of nine career starts out of the top three, which was his Kentucky Derby start.
Napravnik, who has ridden at Indiana Grand before 2014, got a preview of the track Tuesday, Sept. 23. She was aboard three horses on the program, bringing home two winners. She is also named on a horse Tuesday, Sept. 30 at Indiana Grand for her husband, trainer Joe Sharp.
Napravnik joins female rider Rosemary Homeister Jr. as the only other female to ever compete in the Indiana Derby. Homeister Jr. guided Fundy to a sixth place finish in the 2009 Indiana Derby, the year the stakes record was set by Misremembered and Victor Espinosa in a time of 1:40.4. Napravnik is also scheduled to ride in several other stakes races on Indiana Derby night and will ride at Keeneland in the afternoon before jumping on a charter plane with six other jockeys headed to Indiana Grand for all the stakes action that night.
In
addition to attracting attention in the horse racing industry,
Napravnik has gained national attention from main stream media.
She has been featured in numerous outlets including “Sports
Illustrated,” “Vogue” and “Elle” magazines and was the focus of a
segment on “60 Minutes” last year.
Source: Indiana Grand