Rosie Napravnik to be honored by Maryland Racing

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Baltimore, MD (SportsNetwork.com) - Retired jockey Rosie Napravnik will be honored by the Maryland Jockey Club at Pimlico Race Course Thursday, May 14.

Napravnik, who began her riding career in Maryland, will receive the Special Award of Merit for her positive impact on the racing industry at the annual Alibi Breakfast two days before the 140th Preakness Stakes.

"I'm more than honored to be receiving the Award of Merit from the Maryland Jockey Club," Napravnik said. "To be in the same company as fellow riders Ramon Dominguez, Edgar Prado and legends such as Jerry Bailey and D. Wayne Lukas is so humbling. Maryland is where it all started for me. I was blessed to have the support of so many wonderful people, including Dickie Small and Holly Robinson. Maryland racing created so many incredible opportunities for me. Pimlico, Laurel Park and the Maryland Jockey Club will always have a special place in my heart."

Napravnik announced last Oct. 31 that she was retiring from race riding moments after she won the Breeders' Cup Distaff aboard Untapable. The New Jersey native announced after the Distaff victory that she and her husband Joe Sharp were starting a family and the two-time Kentucky Oaks winning rider was retiring following the Breeders' Cup.

Napravnik won last year's Oaks with Untapable two years after she guided Believe You Can to victory in the companion race to the Kentucky Derby. The 2012 win allowed her to become the first female jockey to capture the Oaks.