Exactly 20 years after Julie Krone made history as the first female jockey to win a Triple Crown race – guiding Colonial Affair to the 1993 Belmont Stakes winners circle New Jerseys own Rosie Napravnik is getting
Exactly 20 years after Julie Krone made history as the first female jockey to win a Triple Crown race - guiding Colonial Affair to the 1993 Belmont Stakes winner’s circle – New Jersey’s own Rosie Napravnik is getting oh-so-close to equaling that feat. Her most recent chance to do just that came in the 2013 Belmont Stakes when she rode Unlimited Budget to an sixth-place finish, coincidentally the only filly taking on the boys in the third leg of the Triple Crown series. Napravnik was born to ride and race Born in Morristown, New Jersey, the 25-year-old Napravnik has literally been around horses her entire life. Her father is a blacksmith and her mother is a trainer of show horses. She began riding as a jockey in 2005, and found almost instant success. In 2006 she finished thirty-first on the national earnings list, and second in voting for the Outstanding Apprentice Jockey. By 2012 she had moved up to eighth on the earnings list, and added a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Shanghai Bobby to her resume. 2013 Belmont Napravnik's fourth TC race Although she has yet to score a win, Napravnik’s journey on the 2013 Triple Crown trail has been impressive. Riding the Todd Pletcher-trained Mylute, Napravnik guided the colt to fifth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, the highest ever for a female jockey. She followed that up with an even better ride in the Preakness Stakes, hitting the board in third. After riding the 2012 Belmont, Napravnik became the first woman to ride in all three Triple Crown races. With Mylute out of the Belmont, trainer Pletcher gave Napravnik the ride on Unlimited Budget.
The field is set for the $1 million Haskell, where Nyquist will be trying to re-stake his claim as the top three-year-old in the country.
On Sunday at Monmouth Park, the featured race is the $300,000 United Nations Stakes. Scheduled to be run at a mile and three-eighths on the turf, the Grade 1 event has drawn a field of ten colts and geldings.
On Sunday at Monmouth Park, the featured race is the $150,000 Pegasus Stakes, a key prep race for the Haskell Invitational (G1). The Grade 3 event will be contested at a mile and a sixteenth and has drawn a field of seven three-year-olds.
With five grade 1 races and a grade 2, the undercard for the June 11 Belmont stakes could be the best single day of racing on the calendar outside of the Breeders’ Cup.
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