Napravnik out 8 to 12 weeks

Rosie Napravnik, Maryland's leading rider last year, will miss eight to 12 weeks while recuperating from three compression fractures in her back.

Napravnik, who will turn 19 on Feb. 9, was injured when her mount, Look Out Lorie, fell after finishing second in last Friday's sixth race at Laurel Park.

The fractures are located in the middle of her back, described in medical terms as the thoracic region.

"There's not any real treatment for it - in my case, lying down and letting it heal," said Napravnik, who won 300 races in 2006 and was runner-up in the Eclipse Award balloting for outstanding apprentice. "I am not in any kind of brace or anything. I have a brace that I will use when I get a little more active. I can walk right now, but I am trying to stay immobile."

This is the second major injury for Napravnik, fourth in the Laurel jockey standings with 16 wins in 94 mounts, since she began riding 20 months ago. In November 2005 she fractured her collarbone in a spill and missed nearly six weeks. She returned to dominate the Maryland jockey colony, capturing the riding titles at all four meets at Laurel and Pimlico in 2006.