Sharp gets three-bagger, narrowly misses fourth in Kentucky Downs opener
FRANKLIN, Ky. – The first winner Joe Sharp ever saddled came at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 10, 2014, when his future wife, Rosie Napravnik, booted home Holiday Drama to a 4 3/4-length score in a $15,000 claiming race.
Sharp has become a force in the seven years that have passed, with the huge opening-day performance of his stable demonstrating as much. With Napravnik and their two young sons on hand, Sharp saddled three winners and barely missed with a fourth Sunday.
Sharp swept the early double with Evie’s Prince ($20.20) and first-time starter Misthaven ($5.60) before Azamana Empire was narrowly defeated as the race 8 runner-up. Sharp then bookended the card when Cruz Bay ($7.60) captured the race 11 nightcap.
“It’s always nice to come home and have success,” said Sharp, who returned Friday to Kentucky after summering at Saratoga. “Year after year, this is a meet we point for.”
Sharp, based primarily at the Trackside training center in Louisville, is happy to report that he is fully recovered from the two surgeries he underwent last year for a brain tumor. The 36-year-old West Virginia native said he galloped seven horses Saturday morning at Trackside.
“I’m feeling great,” said Sharp, who now has more than 650 career wins.
Napravnik, who retired from race-riding in November 2014 following a spectacular 10-year career in which she rode 1,878 winners, was the leading jockey at Kentucky Downs in 2013 and tied for the title in 2014.