Napravnik has no plans to return to riding

Rosie Napravnik said Friday from Saratoga that she is not considering a return to race-riding, although she does hope to start exercising horses soon as a means to becoming fit again.

“At this point, I don’t really think [a comeback] is realistic,” said Napravnik.

Napravnik and her husband, trainer Joe Sharp, became parents for the first time June 1 with the birth of their son, Carson. Napravnik, easily one of the top female jockeys in racing history, retired from a 10-year career last November after announcing she was pregnant.

Aside from the multitude of issues that come with caring for a newborn, Napravnik said her husband’s career success has brought the unintended consequence of precluding her from attempting a comeback. Racing rules in virtually every jurisdiction permit husband and wife to compete as trainer and jockey only when they are teamed together, said Napravnik.

“As well as Joe has been doing, it’s become a little bit of a political issue, unfortunately,” she said. “As many horses as he’s running now, it just wouldn’t be practical for me to try to avoid all the conflicts we’d run into. I just don’t want to fight that fight right now.”

Sharp’s stable is up to about 75 horses split between New York and Kentucky. Napravnik said the stable will consist of about 22 horses for the Saratoga meet that begins Friday, July 24. Since opening a public stable last Sept. 10 after years as an assistant, Sharp has won with 69 of his first 295 starters for stable earnings of $2,039,855.

In the meantime, Napravnik, 27, is happy being a mother.

“The baby’s doing just wonderful,” she said. The family arrived in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., early this week from their home in Louisville, Ky., to prepare for the meet. Napravnik said she has been assisting her husband “in some ways” around the barn while also attending to her maternal responsibilities.

“We’re trying to come up with a suitable child-care arrangement,” she said. “Once that’s settled, I’d like to start getting on horses, if only to get fit again and to help Joe.”

Napravnik said she does not “spend time thinking about riding again. It never really was my intent to come back at all. Maybe at some point it will be different, but not now.”

During a career that began in 2005, Napravnik became a bona fide star. She was the leading jockey at major tracks in Maryland, Kentucky, and Louisiana, and she won marquee races such as the Kentucky Oaks (twice) and two Breeders’ Cup events. Her mount earnings of nearly $71.4 million are second only to Hall of Fame inductee Julie Krone ($90.1 million) among female jockeys.