Rosie Napravnik Announces Retirement, Pregnancy After Winning Breeders' Cup Race
The final race of Friday's Breeders' Cup action was notable for two reasons. In addition to Untapable's impressive victory, her jockey Rosie Napravnik made history and announced during the trophy presentation that Saturday will be her last day of racing because of a new addition to her family.ย
According to The Associated Press, Napravnik became the first female jockey to win the $2 million Distaff race at Santa Anita Park:
The good fortune didn't stop there, as Napravnik made the surprise announcement on the NBC Sports Network telecast that she was pregnant with her first child:
Making that announcement even better is Napravnik had her mom on the podium with her to make the announcement. Her husband, Joe Sharp, also expressed relief at having the news out there on Twitter:
There was also a terrific picture from PhotosByZ on Twitter of Napravnik with Untapable after the race that also included a message of congratulations:
Of course, as Napravnik said, she's not done yet. The 26-year-old is in line to race again during Saturday's events, which Jay Privman of The Daily Racing Form said will only add more drama to the already-tense racing everyone saw on Friday:
Someone came up with the saying that sports is the greatest reality show on television. Every time you turn an event on, regardless of the sport, there's always something that can shock, surprise or move you.ย
Never was that motto more appropriate than with Napravnik on Friday. She went from the high of guiding her horse to a win, making history as the first female jockey to do it and capped it off in a way that managed to top all of that.ย
Good for Napravnik. The bad news is she somehow has to top that tomorrow, which is her actual final day of competing.ย
If you want to talk sports, hit me up on Twitter.ย
