AMERICAN GRADED STAKES STANDINGS brought to you by Keeneland: GIRL POWER!
By Ray Paulick
Though they aren’t among the leaders in the American Graded Stakes standings, two young female jockeys, Inez Karlsson and Anna “Rosie” Napravnik, each registered noteworthy accomplishments over the Memorial Day weekend.
“This is my first win in a graded stakes race,” an excited Inez Karlsson was quoted by Arlington Park publicists as saying immediately after guiding Country Flavor to victory in Saturday’s Grade 3 Hanshin Cup for trainer Greg Geier. The Empire Maker colt is a homebred racing for “Gentleman Jim” Tafel, a stalwart in the Chicago racing community and one of the reasons this game is as great as it is. Tafel is best known, of course, as the breeder and owner of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense.
Karlsson is a 27-year-old native of Sweden who was formerly a boxer—probably a good way for a female to train for a career in the male-dominated jockey profession. She switched to horses, though, first helping train Standardbreds and later riding Thoroughbreds, and came to the U.S. where she began her career late in the 2007 Arlington Park meeting. The following year, Karlsson was leading rider at the Hawthorne fall meet and she was runner-up in Eclipse Award balloting as outstanding apprentice of 2008.
In 2009, her first year as a journeyman, the young Swede finished fourth in the Arlington jockey standings, the highlight of her year being a five-win day in May. Saturday’s Grade 3 Hanshin victory was her third of the day and career win No. 400. “When you think about it, 400 wins is really quite a lot for the amount of time I’ve been riding,” said Karlsson. “It makes me realize how hard it would be for anyone to get to 4,000.”
Napravnik’s milestone came on Monday, where she became the first female jockey to win an American Graded Stakes at Lone Star Park, the Dallas-Ft. Worth area track that opened in 1997. Napravnik won the Grade 2 Lone Star Park Handicap with Redding Colliery for Mrs. Fitriana Hays and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. It was Napravnik’s second career American Graded Stakes victory, her breakthrough win coming earlier this year at Aqueduct in the Grade 3 Cicada Handicap for trainer Tony Dutrow.
(As a sidenote, Napravanik escaped serious injury when she returned to her home base at Delaware Park and was thrown from a mount that stumbled badly at the start of Wednesday’s ninth race. Though suffering from some soreness in the back and a stiff neck, she is expected to return to riding on Saturday.)
Though five years younger than Karlsson, Napravnik has more riding experience, having launched her career in 2005 at the age of 17. The native of Morristown, N.J., was the leading jockey in Maryland in 2006, when she registered 300 victories (259 at Laurel and Pimlico) from 1,465 mounts and was Eclipse Award runner-up as outstanding apprentice. Her victories that year included the $250,000 Maryland Million Classic aboard Due, and she 11 other stakes throughout the year.
Business slowed the following year when she lost her “bug,” but Napravnik has been going strong the last three years, booting home 176 winners in 2008, 184 in 2009 and 60 thus far this year.
This is the year that celebrated the pioneer female riders with a special race on Black-Eyed Susan day at Pimlico and when filming is to be done for a major motion picture on the life of Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone. Racing has a core of top female riders, including Karlsson, Napravnik, Rosemary Homeister and Chantal Sutherland. Could 2010 be a breakout year for one of them?
Copyright © 2010, Ray Paulick
Savvy businesses recognize value. Advertise in the Paulick Report.
Sign up for our Email Flashes to get the latest news, analysis and commentary from Ray Paulick
Tags: American Graded Stakes Standings, Anna Napravnik, Chantal Stuherland, denali stud, eaton sales, gainesway, Gentleman Jim Tafel, Greg Geier, Hanshin Cup, Inez Karlsson, Julie Krone, Keeneland, kentucky derby, Lane's End, Rosemary Homeister, Street Sense, Taylor Made
June 3rd, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Sad to note the failure of racing’s publicists to tell everybody that racing is the only sport where men and women compete on equal terms.
June 3rd, 2010 at 12:28 pm
I have been a fan of Inez since 2008. She is constantly exceeding the goals she sets for herself and she is defnitely on the way up in this business. I am gald to see more and more woman in the sport. I’ve noticed that WO sometimes has as many as 4 women jockeys in the same race. That was unheard of just a couple of years ago. Brava to Inez, Chantal, Rosie, Rosemary, Maylan, Emma Jane, Jacki, Catherine, Beth, Oriana and all of the other females working hard in the sport.
June 3rd, 2010 at 12:32 pm
Great story! Anybody thinks its smooth going for a female to make it on her own in any aspect of racing hasn’t ever been a female trying to make her way in racing.
We’re at LSP right now and such a hip, slick & coooool person, me… but I came THIS CLOSE to asking Rosie for a photograph after the race, something I’ve never done in my 100,000 years on the planet. Why such foolishment? Answer: When I was a young girl, I wanted to be a jockey. Small enough, crazy enough, born on the back of a horse, but my daddy absolutely positively ain’t-no-way-in hell would not hear of it. A girl couldn’t be a jockey and that was that. Not proper, and girls aren’t tough enough, everybody knew this to be true; gallop girl was all I was allowed to be… Long time ago and a different culture; nevertheless, watchin’ ol’ Rosie ride, took me by surprise how exciting it was to see her represent in such fashion. As we all know, watching something on TVG or HRTV or ESPN can’t touch what it’s like to stand on the rail and FEEL it. This was the first time I’ve personally seen a female jock win a big race (or what is certainly in my corner of the pond a very big race) so it was a thrill which took my jaded self quite by surprise.
Thanks again for the story and please keep up the good work. I love reading the PR.
Linda
June 3rd, 2010 at 9:07 pm
Rosie and Jose Lezcano are my two favorite jockies, good to see both of them getting some press this week. I think that Rosie can follow in Julie Krone’s footsteps and win Breeders Cup or Triple Crown races in her career. As I follow mainly NY and NJ racing I am not as familiar with Inez but she seems to have a lot of talent as well.