Napravnik is now a mother

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Rosie Napravnik, who retired as a jockey after last fall’s Breeders Cup to raise a family with her husband, trainer Joe Sharp, gave birth to a healthy baby boy early Monday morning.

Carson Wayne Sharp was born at 4:09 a.m., weighting 6 pounds and 15 ounces, and both he and Napravnik are doing well, Sharp said. It was the first child for the couple, and the second for Sharp, who has a daughter, Aiyana, from a prior relationship.

Napravnik’s pregnancy was unveiled to her family and to the racing world soon after she guided Untapable to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff Oct. 31 at Santa Anita. There, in front of a national television audience, she broke the pregnancy news to her mother, and that her retirement would follow after the second day of the Breeder’s Cup on Nov. 1. She was seven weeks pregnant at the time.

Napravnik, 27, won 1,877 races from 9,715 mounts during her career. She was one of the most successful female jockeys in history of the sport and one of the elite riders in the country at the time of her retirement. She ranked among the top eight riders in earnings in each in her last two years as a jockey.

In the months following her retirement, she has assisted Sharp in the training of his expanding stable.

Sharp and Napravnik have kept their friends and followers up to date on her pregnancy, sharing photos on Twitter and Facebook, including, photos of newborn Carson on Monday morning.

With Sharp also being a former jockey, it seems only a matter of time before Carson one day rides horses. Sharp quipped that he already has, noting he “won at the Breeders’ Cup.”