2006 top apprentice riders: what of them after bugboy status?

[Glimmerglass]

All this year there has been a trio of apprentice talent burning up the tracks on both Coasts: Julien Leparoux, Martin Garcia (http://www.goldengatefields.com/NewsEvents/FeatureStories/Details/garcia.htm) and Anna "Rosie" Napravnik (http://www.examiner.com/a-133097~Sassy_and_savvy.html). All three are in the top 10 with total wins for jocks so far this year.

Julien just won the Churchill Downs riding title for the spring meet (http://racing.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=34462), making him just the 1st apprentice rider to do so since 1949 at Churchill and just missing by 4 wins a tie for the record with most wins ever at a Churchill meet, held by Pat Day. Leparoux also tied for the Keeneland title this spring and won Turfway's title this spring with the most wins ever for a meet.

Gobs and gobs of talent for Julien and no less for Rosie or Garcia, but also (more so for Julien) put on a lot of excellent horses for a lot of the cards.

With the 5-lb weight advantage you can say he had an edge in some races but don't the numbers really suggest he will be 'the real deal' for rising up to be one of the best jocks years to come? I saw him at Keeneland (and win multiple times) and he's damn good.

Who thinks all three will still be dominating - or at least riding near the top of the respective tracks they're at - when they lose the bugboy weight advantage?

Or maybe they'll fade from the top of the standings as seemingly young Canadian female riders Emma Jayne (http://www.bloodhorse.com/talkinhorses/EW021506.asp) Wilson and Chantal Sutherland (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8908554/) (who was just recently featured in Vogue) seem to have?

[Linny]

IMO, Leparoux is the real deal. The kid can ride. Also, he's won a bunch of stakes races where the "bug" is not allowed. He won the Just A Game on Gorella in impressive style with no weight allowance.
He's live in good barns (Biancone etc) and I think he's likely to be a very good journeyman.

I know less about the others but Rosie has been a force at PIM but has yet to really shine at Delaware Park.

I use stakes success as a guide because of the lack of weight allowance. Leparoux will still get live horses.

[Glimmerglass]

Linny, I have to concur that Julien has proven to be reasonably accomplished without the allowance. A one day trip up to New York last month or so for a few rides on Patrick B's horses wasn't a fruitful but no one wins everything.

He'll certainly make for an interesting time at Saratoga this year. While he rode there last year I think this will be quite different ;)

Hey any inside word on who the to-be-announced sponsor/presenting company will be for the Travers Stakes? Its kinda sad that the NYRA feels the need to whore out such an historic race with a title sponsor like the Derby. Hopefully it won't become the Travers Stakes Presented by Stewart's Shops :D

I could see the tv promos now: "Run into your nearest Stewart's, just like Bernardini ran away with the 137th running of the Travers Stakes Presented by Stewart's"

[QHJockee]

Julien definitely is the real deal. Such poise and finesse in the saddle for such a short time as a professional. HIs ride on Gorella in the Just A Game proved he will be a player for many years to come. I doubt he will have the serious drop off that comes with many riders once they lose the bug.

A side note - I am an unlisted co-breeder of a horse which was piloted to a win at Churchill on Friday by Julien, helping him to achieve his title! ;)

I see Martin and Rosie being just another rider once they lose the bug. To me, they just do'nt seem to have that je nu ses quois (don't speaky french!) needed to retain a high level of rides.

But if you all want another bug to watch, keep an eye out for Eclipse winner Brian Hernandez, Jr's little brother, Colby. He plans to start riding in August or September and from what I hear, he should do better than big brother.

[NeverTime]

Another article on Rosie, from this weekend's New Journal (Delaware):

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060716/SPORTS/607160339/1138

[Linny]

I haven't heard but how 'bout the "Billycars.com Travers, it's HUUUUUUUGE.....UUGGGHHHH"

Maybe the "Price Chopper Travers"

The IheartNY Stakes, former known as the Travers, brought to you by the NY Lottery.

Need I go on....:no:

[QHJockee]

They will do away with traditional wagering...can hear it now at the ticket window:

"Would you like to make the selections or would you like the computer to quick pick your bets?"
"Lump sum or payment option?"
;)

[Glimmerglass]

San Diego Union-Trib 7-19-06 "'A natural-born race rider'; Veteran horsemen impressed by talent of apprentice jockey Martin Garcia" (http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/delmarraces/20060719-9999-1s19delmar.html)

Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg rates Garcia one of the best apprentice riders he's seen. And Van Berg has been in the business around 54 years.

“He's a natural-born race rider and he's dedicated to it,” Van Berg said. “He's out at the barns at 5:30 in the morning, a big smile on his face and you see him hours later, no matter how many horses he's worked, and he's still smiling.”

That is a similar comment made of Julien and Rosie too .. so it must go with success ;)

[Glimmerglass]

by the way from the above San Diego article an clearly explained description of the apprentice rule:

Apprentice rules
Racing rules give first-year riders a “break” by allowing their horses to carry from 5-10 pounds less than their assigned weight. Until a jockey has five wins, mounts can carry 10 pounds less; from then until win No. 40 seven pounds less; and from win No. 40 until one year from the date of the fifth win, five pounds less.

[MyStormyBaby]

Or maybe they'll fade from the top of the standings as seemingly young Canadian female riders Emma Jayne (http://www.bloodhorse.com/talkinhorses/EW021506.asp) Wilson and Chantal Sutherland (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8908554/) (who was just recently featured in Vogue) seem to have?

Emma-Jayne Wilson is actually still atop the rider standings at Woodbine, with 64 wins from 400 starts, for a strike rate of 16%. I think she's still got the five-pound bug though, as does Justin Stein (also an Eclipse nominee last year) who's 2nd in the standings. Both of them are red-hot this year. :)

[Glimmerglass]

Emma-Jayne Wilson is actually still atop the rider standings at Woodbine, with 64 wins from 400 starts, for a strike rate of 16%. I think she's still got the five-pound bug though, as does Justin Stein (also an Eclipse nominee last year) who's 2nd in the standings. Both of them are red-hot this year. :)

You are correct, and perhaps it was unfair to say she she's declined in her abilities (obviously she hasn't) although I suppose the buzz over her has faded in the States owing to rise in young talent here.

The Toronto Sun from last month said of her weight: (http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/HorseRacing/2006/06/23/1649075-sun.html) "An apprentice jockey who gives up her five-pound weight allowance (which she does not receive in Stakes races like the Plate), Wilson broke through in her first full year of riding last year, winning the Eclipse Award as North America's top apprentice. She has continued her winning ways this year, leading the Woodbine rider standings."

[The Fjord Jockey]

Hey, Rosie Napravnik has a MySpace if anybody wants to add her:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=41256573&MyToken=6ab79dfe-d4a3-4b48-be91-926f52a7a4e9

[Glimmerglass]

Hey, Rosie Napravnik has a MySpace if anybody wants to add her:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=41256573&MyToken=6ab79dfe-d4a3-4b48-be91-926f52a7a4e9

Am I the only one who thinks most people's myspace page never is flattering to them by virtue of either their own content/answers and/or the visitors remarks? :B

[The Fjord Jockey]

Eh, your true colors show online, I think.

Mine is http://www.myspace.com/world_cop

I just hate when you meet a cute boy in life, then see his MySpace and just gotta say BLECH! Can't you spell?

Typical of a lot of the racetrackers on MySpace as well, lol.

[Glimmerglass]

At Del Mar, per the DRF on Saturday: "Garcia wins three, including stakes" (Garcia wins three, including stakes)

Apprentice jockey Martin Garcia scored his first hat trick at Del Mar on Friday (7-21), a sequence of victories that included his first stakes win at the track, aboard C'est Mark in the $134,750 California Thoroughbred Breeders Association Stakes.

Julien Leparoux rolled into Chicago with a couple of rides for Saturday's (7-22) big graded stakes races at Arlington Park. He left with a win in the G3-t Arlington Handicap (http://drf.com/news/article/76733.html) which was an upset victory aboard Cosmosnaut. An impressive win especially in light that Cosmonaut was dead last in the G1 Stephen Foster Handicap last month on dirt ;) His other ride on the favorite Louve Royale (IRE) in the Modesty Handicap (G3-t) resulted in a narrow (half length) loss to a long shot former claimer - Chic Dancer.

[Spurt]

I think Julien is the real deal. Usually when you watch bug riders they'll make some pretty noticeable mistakes during the day, watching him he's conistently putting horses where they can win. He rides professional, coming back after a race he can tell you everything that went wrong, right, etc. His biggest advantage is that he galloped horses for a long time before he rode. And still is currently galloping for Biancone. He's strong from that.

Alot of bug riders don't gallop very long, they usually start out that way then quickly go to just working horses for some big outfit. They are often to weak to be able to pull a horse up and they aren't able to teach them anything.

I don't think the bug girl will go anywhere once she loses her weight allowance. Most of them dont, not to say they can't but in general they don't go anywhere. And the tracks that she is riding at aren't exactly Saratoga.


Garcia I don't know. I've never watched him ride very much so I can't say. He'll probably be decent.

[Glimmerglass]

A few weeks old but a lengthy article

NJ Morris Co. Daily Record 7-10-06 "Morristown native now a No. 1 jockey" (http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060710/COMMUNITIES32/607100330/1203/NEWS01)

On the day she would have graduated from Hereford High School north of Baltimore, Napravnik didn't get the chance to march down the aisle to "Pomp and Circumstance." Instead, the standout apprentice rider trotted on horseback to the winner's circle --twice.

[Glimmerglass]

This is a great picture for this article that I also have from the the front page of the Lexington Herald-Leader as I was there (and had bet on Julien and Sanibel Storm - had he not been tossed, while in the lead and just a furlong from the finish, he would've won the Keeneland jockey title):

Photo: 4-28-06 Keeneland Race Course, Sanibel Storm with Julien Leparoux up - and over (http://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/2006/07/31/sports/31jockey.xlarge1.jpg)

The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/31/sports/othersports/31jockey.html?_r=2&ref=othersports&oref=slogin)
July 31, 2006
A Jockey’s Continuing Education
By JOE DRAPE, THE NEW YORK TIMES

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y., July 30 — Like many sons of horsemen, Julien Leparoux grew up around his father’s barn counting the days until he became a jockey. Robert Leparoux, however, wanted more for his boy. He wanted Julien to become a financier, a lawyer, anything but a pint-sized athlete who tempts fate nine times a day on the back of a fast-moving 1,200-pound athlete.

At 14, Julien pleaded with his father, an assistant trainer, to allow him to enter a jockey academy near his home in Chantilly, France. Robert refused.

“He told me the horses would wait, that after I went to regular school, I could do whatever I wanted,” Julien said.

So Julien went to school, studied hard and became a better-than-average student. Schoolbooks, however, failed to dampen his passion for the horses. As soon as he graduated, he began as an exercise rider for trainers in France. It was a start, but Robert knew his son needed a better leg up if he was to succeed in a dangerous career.

His son had kept up his end of their agreement, so Robert urged Julien to contact an old acquaintance, a trainer named Patrick Biancone whose skill at developing fast horses was rivaled only by his reputation for turning out top riders like the perennial French star Olivier Peslier.

It was 2003, and Biancone was based in America. He was willing to take Julien on, but he wanted Julien to understand that, in addition to undertaking a transcontinental move, he would have to endure a long education.

“I told him that he was going to begin by cleaning stalls, and if he did well, then I’d let him gallop a few horses, but there were no guarantees,” Biancone said.

“I like turning out finished products. I believe great jockeys are like great racecar drivers. They understand everything about the machine they are on or in. They need a foundation.”

Three years later, Leparoux is an exemplar of the benefits of arrested development when it comes to grooming race riders. He is 23, old by apprentice, or rookie jockey, standards, but he leads the nation in victories with 279 and is 11th in earnings. His mounts have won more than $6.7 million.

Hot “bug boys,” as apprentice jockeys are called, are as ubiquitous in racing as promising 2-year-old colts. Many trainers like to use apprentices because of the 5-to-10-pound break in weight they are allowed as novices in everyday races. Apprentices rarely put up big numbers once they graduate to become journeymen jockeys and ride at equal weight, because trainers no longer have an incentive to put a less experienced rider on their horses.

No one, however, expects Leparoux to fall from the standings when he loses his apprentice status in late September. Since a stealth debut at Saratoga Race Course last summer, he is turning in an apprentice campaign that is perhaps rivaled only by Steve Cauthen’s.

Cauthen was named champion apprentice as a teenager in 1977 and swept the Triple Crown aboard Affirmed the next year.

Leparoux won the riding title at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky in the winter-spring meet with a meet-record 167 victories. Next, he went to Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, one of the nation’s toughest circuits, and tied for the top jockey title with Rafael Bejarano to become the first apprentice in the storied track’s history to do so. He came here from Churchill Downs in Louisville, where he rode to a meet-leading 87 victories.

In running off with 13 stakes races — 6 of them graded, where weight concessions are not allowed for apprentices — Leparoux has demonstrated that, pound for pound, he is as skilled as any rider.

Jerry Bailey, the recently retired Hall of Fame jockey, first took notice of Leparoux here last summer, when Leparoux won three times from 20 mounts and piloted his horses around the oval as if he had already ridden 2,000 races.

“You could tell then he was very talented, and very, very patient,” said Bailey, now an analyst for ESPN/ABC Sports. “What I’m most impressed with now is how calm and thoughtful he is in these big stakes races. Usually when riders get thrown into the fire, it takes them years to find that sort of calmness.”

While Leparoux credits much of his success to Biancone’s painstaking tutelage and to the fact that he rides first call for his powerful stable, Biancone says his investment in Leparoux was a privilege that he knew would eventually pay dividends.

Leparoux is a fixture at Barn 86 here, coiling his 5-foot-5, 108-pound frame onto several horses a morning for workouts. He makes far more in the afternoons now than he did as a $50-a-week groom for Biancone, but his work ethic remains the same.

“He is not one of the great riders yet, but he’s going to be,” Biancone said. “He’s a gifted horseman. Now all he has to learn is not to overanalyze things. Michael Jordan did not think about why he could jump past someone; he just did it. That’s all Julien has to do.”

Leparoux’s agent, Steve Bass, said that Robert Leparoux’s wish for his son to get an education might have kept him from the track for four years, but it had benefited him off it.

In a deep and talented jockey colony here, including Eclipse Award champions like John Velazquez and Kentucky Derby winners like Edgar Prado, Jose Santos, Mike Smith and Kent Desormeaux, Leparoux is much in demand.

As the opening week of the meeting comes to a close, Leparoux is averaging six mounts a day and, with three victories, is tied for third in the standings.

“He’s a smart kid and courteous around owners,” Bass said. “When he gets off a horse, he can tell a trainer exactly how it went and what he thinks it needs. He’s mature and has some polish.”

Last April on the final day of the Keeneland meeting, Leparoux experienced, in a harrowing split second, what his father had feared most about his son’s ambition to become a jockey.

In the stretch, his horse, a first-time starter named Sanibel Storm, ducked into the inside rail and launched Leparoux into an aerial somersault into the infield. Remarkably, he sprang to his feet and began waving his whip as if he were angry or frustrated.

Leparoux said that was not the case at all. He was exuberant.

“I was celebrating the fact I was not injured,” he said.

He also said he was thinking of his father. Robert Leparoux died in 2003 as his son’s education in race riding was just beginning. His son has little doubt that the success he is enjoying now is because of him. His father taught him about horses as a boy. He then insisted Julien go to a real school so he could be a better man.

“He wanted me to be happy,” he said, “He wanted me to do what I wanted to do. He knew this was it.”

[Glimmerglass]

San Diego Union-Tribune 8-9-06 "Visiting apprentice a master of winning" (http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20060809-9999-1s9horsecol.html)

excerpts

For 2006, Leparoux's statistics through Sunday showed 1,107 starts, a nation-leading 282 wins, 188 seconds and 140 thirds with his mounts accounting for $6,956,791 in purse earnings. He ranks 11th nationally for earnings, only slightly behind Corey Nakatani and out of the Top 10.

Is he surprised by his success?

“I can say yes and no,” Leparoux said. “Yes, because it is a really big success. No because I feel I have worked hard for it.”

Chantilly is a prominent racing outpost in France and Leparoux's father was an assistant trainer, so he was been around horses all his life. Leparoux said that from the time he was 5 or 6 years old his dream was to be a jockey.

Leparoux, listed at 5-3 and 107 pounds, retains his apprentice status, and the 5-pound weight break for his horses that comes with it, through Sept. 25. At that point the transition to journeyman looms, when the fight for business and the going in general get tougher.

[Glimmerglass]

On-the-job training includes penalties for Garcia

Friday, August 11, 2006
North County Times (http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/08/11/sports/delmar/21_26_138_10_06.txt)

DEL MAR -- He was hailed as one of the next great jockeys in Southern California, but Martin Garcia's ride during the first 20 days of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club meet has been rocky at best.

The 21-year-old has received three suspensions from track stewards totaling 13 days. He has gotten temporary restraining orders to appeal the suspensions.

On Thursday, Garcia received a $1,000 fine from the stewards for his third offense of hitting a horse on the flank and breaking the skin.

Is it growing pains, or is Garcia a menace on the racetrack?

"I have been wrong," Garcia said. "I need to pay more attention to what I do. The stewards expect me to do a better job, and that's why I need to work more. I need to work on everything."

.... article continues

[Drvmb1ggl3]

.

[solargal]

Martin Garcia is hugely overrated. He is intentionally hitting them in the flank, trust me it isn't accidental. I am glad that Delmar is getting after him. He is going to be ruled off for a long time if he doesn't shape up.

[Spurt]

I think Julien actually cares about the horses. Truthfully I see alot of riders from hispanic nations that come over here and are riding and they do not know anything about horses. They just do the machine gun whipping and scrub like crazy. I try to help some of them and they do have talent they just need to learn about the rest of the horse, patience, and to think.

When Julien came onto the scene last year he was totally different, he might have needed to work on some of his race riding, etc but he had all of his basics. Unlike some of the others that need to go backwards before they can go forward.

[Glimmerglass]

Another lengthy - and good - article on Rosie, err I mean Anna (see below):

Baltimore Sun 8-16-06 "Napravnik steps up in class; Competition at Delaware Park pushes young jockey to excel" (http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/horseracing/bal-sp.napravnik16aug16,0,1014490.story?coll=bal-sports-horse)

At Delaware Park, race fields are short, making rides hard to get, and a deep and veteran jockey colony makes the competition even more fierce.

Though Napravnik ranks No. 6 in the country with 194 wins, she competed with Ramon Dominguez, second in the nation with 237 wins. Dominguez also led the nation in that category in 2001 and 2003 and followed up in 2004 with the highest winning percentage (.283). Then there is Mario Pino, who has ridden more than 5,600 winners, and Jeremy Rose, who rode Afleet Alex to victories in the 2005 Preakness and Belmont.

"Being a woman, I can tell you the trainers are harder on women at Delaware because they're not used to seeing them do well here," Gaudet said. "They're very friendly and very willing to accept a good rider, but fields are short, they're a little cliquey and when they have four or five riders in the colony that they know are excellent, a new rider isn't going to be given the best shot.

"Instead, they'll give you a horse that needs a bug [an apprentice with a weight allowance]."

Napravnik has had 29 winners at Delaware Park this summer, which ranks her seventh at the track, where she has won $776,644.

She said getting rides hasn't been hard.

"Getting the good horses is difficult," she said while sitting on a couch in the women's jockey room before the day's racing began. "Since I've come here, I've had setbacks. The week that was supposed to be my first week here, I had to take off because I had a cyst on my ovaries. When I did get here, there were a couple of slow weeks."

But Napravnik is geared to go all out. She has little time for typical teenage pursuits.

"When I'm not sleeping or riding," she said, "I buy $50 worth of CDs and I play them so much I'm sick of them in two days. Mostly, I'm alone in my car."

Napravnik also wants to display other signs of her maturity. She has said she wants to drop "Rosie" and start going by "Anna."

"She turned 18," Faltynski said. "She's all grown up now, and she wants to be called Anna."

[Drvmb1ggl3]

.

[Glimmerglass]

VIDEO: brief interview with Julien by Albany Capital News 9 - Sun 8-20-06 - ""Bug" among the best" (http://www.capitalnews9.com/shared/video/buildasx.asp?AdShown=&vids=90554&mswmext=)

[Glimmerglass]

BloodHorse 8-23-06 "Napravnik's Bug Days End With Three-Bagger" (http://racing.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=34999)

Anna "Rosie" Napravnik ended a successful campaign as an apprentice rider with three victories on Wednesday's card at Laurel Park, giving the 18-year-old 279 wins as a bug rider with earnings of $5,346,154.
This year she ranks fifth in the nation with 208 first place finishes, trailing only Julien Leparoux (297), Ramon Dominguez (254), Russell Baze (238), and Martin Garcia (227). Leparoux and Garcia are also bug riders.

"If there is one word to describe how I feel, satisfied would be it," said Napravnik, who eclipsed the $4 million mark in earnings for the year. "I don't know how to explain it. It was not what I expected, but it doesn't surprise me. That is the type of person I am. I go out and get what I want by working so hard. I had a lot of people helping me, and they did so because they knew I really wanted to do this and was going to do what I needed to do to get there."

Immediately after her junior year at Hereford High School in Baltimore County, Napravnik began riding professionally. She visited the winners' circle with her first career mount in June 2005 at Pimlico on a horse trained by Richard Small.

She won 71 races for $1.3 million in 2005, and this year has established herself as the top rider in the Maryland jockey colony, winning both the Laurel Park winter and Pimlico spring riding titles. Napravnik has 54 multiple win days at the major Maryland tracks this year and has won at least one race in 84 of the 100 days she has ridden at Pimlico and Laurel Park.

After she serves a 10-day suspension for an earlier riding infraction, Napravnik is to start as a journeyman on Sept. 6, the opening day of the Laurel Park fall meeting.

"I am a little nervous," added Napravnik. "A lot of people don't think I am going to lose business, but things happen. It is a little different ballgame. I am at the top of the jockey standings right now, and I don't want to go downhill or plateau either."

The last dominant bug rider in Maryland was Ryan Fogelsonger, who completed his apprentice year in May 2003 with 419 victories and more than $7.2 million in earnings, which included the 2002 Eclipse Award.

[Glimmerglass]

From the DRF (8-29) on Martin Garcia, at Del Mar (http://www.drf.com/news/article/78051.html):

Jockey Martin Garcia was taken to Scripps Hospital in Encinitas, Calif., on Monday [8-28] for X-rays of his right wrist after being unseated from his mount Valiant Blues at the start of the sixth race.

Valiant Blues appeared to clip the heels of the horse just to his inside, Sea Driver, only a few strides out of the gate in the one-mile race. Garcia landed heavily on the track, and track workers acted quickly to get him off the race course, being as he was laying prone only yards in front of the finish line. The race continued without interruption.

Garcia, an apprentice, is second in the standings at Del Mar with 35 wins, 12 behind Victor Espinoza. He has had a star-crossed summer at Del Mar, wracking up 25 days in suspensions, all of which he appealed. On Monday morning, he reached an agreement with stewards to serve 22 days, beginning Friday, in exchange for dropping his appeals.

[Glimmerglass]

A very lengthy article of high praise on Julien with feedback from Gary Stevens and Steve Cuathen in today's Daily Racing Form also readable via their shared content agreement with CBS Sports (link below) ;)

CBS Sports/DRF 9-19-06 "On top, and just getting started" (http://horseracing.sportsline.com/cbs/headlines/showarticle.aspx?articleId=13198)

Among his many feats as an apprentice, Leparoux has led all North American jockeys in wins since the first day of 2006. Through Tuesday, he had 324 winners this year, allowing him to keep a comfortable margin over Ramon Dominguez (284) and the rest of his pursuers.

The balance of Leparoux's apprentice log is even more impressive.

He has 18 stakes wins, a modern-day record. His mounts have earned more than $9.4 million, easily surpassing Jeremy Rose's former record of nearly $7.5 million. Leparoux shattered the Turfway mark for most wins in a season - 150 by Rafael Bejarano in 2004 - with 167 at the meet that ended in early April. He became the first bug boy in Keeneland's 70-year history to earn a riding title when he tied with Bejarano last spring. He became the first bug boy since 1949 to win a Churchill Downs riding title when he topped the spring meet standings. He recently ended the Saratoga meet with 28 wins, the most in track history for an apprentice. And he won the Beverly D. on Aug. 12 at Arlington Park aboard Gorella, a rarity indeed for an apprentice in a Grade 1 event.

[Leparoux's agent, Steve Bass] said Leparoux has spent most of his time doing little more than working, but since last spring, when he began dating Michelle Yu, a freelance production assistant for the TVG network, Leparoux has shown signs of coming out of his personal shell.
Julien Leparoux will become a journeyman on Sept. 25th.

[Linny]

The jocks room at Saratoga this season was as deep as any I've ever seen. In addition to Velazquez and Prado who lead the NY standings, we had Garrett Gomez and Kent Desormeaux and those guys who are always just a shade below the top 2. Riders like Javier Castellano and Eibar Coa and Cornelio Velasquez are very tough to beat and would dominate on many circuits. Add young guys like Fernando Jara and old pro's like Rich Migliore (the nicest guy in the jocks room, IMO) and you have a tough colony for an apprentice. Leparoux not only held his own, he rode competitively with those guys. The fact that he got many stakes mounts (where no weight allowance is given) indicates that trainer appreciate his skills. IMO, that means he should get lots of mounts following the loss of the bug.

Also, I'll be curious as to where he rides this winter. He rides 1st call for Biancone, who keeps stock at Turfway and in California. With the PolyTrack going in at Hollywood, I wonder if Biancone will drop T'Way this season and take Julien to Cali. One of Biancone's biggest clients, Coolmore partner Michael Tabor is a huge fan of PolyTrack. Pletcher will be operating a stable at Hollywood this winter, primarily to house Tabor's stock. Since Julien rides alot for Tabor via Biancone, I wonder if he'll ride for Todd as well? If not, I'd assume that Gomez, who rode several Pletcher stakes winners at SAR may return to Cali and ride 1st call for Todd.
Very interesting...

[Glimmerglass]

Worth mentioning is Julien's brilliant effort with a good horse that just hasn't been ridden to his potential before:

The skills of jockey Julien Leparoux were on display again at Keeneland when the 24-year-old Frenchman was able to take the usually headstrong Kip Deville off the early pace, a tactic that paid off in victory in the $150,000 Bryan Station Stakes.DRF 10-16-06 (http://drf.com/news/article/79662.html)

Kip Deville is a good guy with talent but just not really ridden properly, etc. nice to see patience paid off.

Equally worth mentioning is Anna "Rosie" Napravnik's ride in the seemingly much overshadowed Maryland Millions Classic victory.

But the Classic suited Due just fine. Jockey Anna "Rosie" Napravnik patiently rated her horse in last place, willing to take the dirt that was thrown in both her face and Due's.

Yesterday, 24,836 fans - the second-largest crowd in its history - came out to enjoy the action and bet $4,897,708 on the 12-race card. That, too, was the second-largest number in history, just behind last year's record of a little over $5 million.
Baltimore Sun 10-15-06 "Napravnik rides Due to victory" (http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/horseracing/bal-sp.million15oct15,0,7687622.story?coll=bal-sports-horse)

[Glimmerglass]

DRF Oct 19-06 (http://drf.com/news/article/79704.html)After a seven-week break, apprentice jockey Martin Garcia has quickly regained a place among the top riders in Southern California.
Garcia, who finished among the leading riders at the Hollywood Park and Del Mar meetings during the summer, returned from a suspension and a wrist injury on Thursday. He had not ridden since the first week of September at Del Mar.

On Friday's Oak Tree card at Santa Anita, Garcia has mounts in five of the eight races, including Wakanda in a $42,000 allowance race on the hillside turf course.

Garcia earned 25 days of suspension for careless riding during the Del Mar meeting. After he lodged an appeal, the term of the suspension was reduced to 22 days. The suspension ended on Wednesday, the 17th day of the Oak Tree meeting. (Garcia sat out the final five days of the Del Mar meeting.) During that time, he also recovered from a wrist injury suffered at the end of Del Mar.

[Glimmerglass]

Keeneland broken many records with the debut of the poly track for the 17-day Fall Meet with records in attendance and wagering - great news!

The powerful French team of trainer Patrick Biancone and jockey Julien Leparoux captured indiviual titles.

Biancone won 11 races from 38 starts to take his first Keeneland trainer title. H. Graham Motion finished second with 7 wins.

As in the spring, the race for leading jockey honors came down to the final day between Julien Leparoux and Rafael Bejarano, with Leparoux finishing ahead of Bejarano by a tally of 30-25. Leparoux, who became the first apprentice jockey to win a leading rider title at Keeneland when he captured it in the spring of 2006, now has back-to-back riding crowns at the Lexington track.Source: BloodHorse 10-30-06 (http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=36062)

[Glimmerglass]

Rosie (I think the "Anna" request with reference to her isn't working) is featured in a new article from Reuters out today:

Reuters 11-20-06 "Napravnik shines against the men" (http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2006-11-20T152645Z_01_N17363456_RTRUKOC_0_US-HORSE-RACING-NAPRAVNIK.xml)

excerpts:
Napravnik's interest in the business began when she was six years old. Her older sister Jasmine rode pony races on the steeplechase circuit and Rosie was always on her heels, in the stalls or at the track.

Winning has separated Napravnik from the rest of the pack and the fact that she is a woman is not lost on her or her counterparts at the track.

In fact, she has "The Girl" stitched on her riding pants, a reference to her nickname at Laurel Park.

Since turning professional, Napravnik has won 333 races for purses worth $7.3 million. She has already pocketed more than $730,000, a tidy sum for a young woman who would otherwise be in her first semester of college.

Not cited before on this thread with Julien but he was DQ'd in the Breeders' Cup distaff: source: DRF 11/13 (http://www.drf.com/news/article/80473.html)

Leparoux, 23, served the first suspension of his career last week. The penalty stemmed from his ride in the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Distaff, in which his mount, Asi Siempre, was disqualified from second to fourth for impeding a rival.

[SailBunny]

I used to race against Rosie in the pony races. I remember her being pretty tough, as most of us were just out there barely hanging on, whereas she was actually steering and strategizing. Her sister Jazz also used to race, and there was even a book written about her. I think its called "Riders up! Its time for a Pony Race" or something like that. haha it was my faaaavorite book as a little kid.

[Glimmerglass]

SailBunny that is great to learn - thanks!

The book you mentioned: Riders Up!: Preparing for a Pony Race (published 1992) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0876147147?v=glance)

Jasmine and Rosie have teamed up just this month to in fact produce her first winner as a trainer.

TBTimes 11/3/06 (http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/todaysnewsarchive/ttodaysnewsviewarchive.asp?ArchiveDate=11/3/2006#67563)
Jockey Napravnik rides as sister picks up first training victory

Jockey Rosie Napravnik on Friday helped her sister, Jasmine, to earn her first victory as a trainer, rallying Farah T Salute to a three-quarter-length triumph in the fifth race at Laurel Park.

Jasmine Napravnik bred Farah T Salute, a Boy Done Good filly who earned her second victory in four career starts.

"It's awesome having Rosie as a sister," said Jasmine, who is six years older than her 18-year-old sibling. "We rode together in the junior pony races as children. Later I trained the horses and she rode for me. I have some steeplechase horses, but this filly is my only Thoroughbred in training right now."

Rosie Napravnik, who leads the Laurel rider standings with 45 victories through Thursday, savored the moment.

"I know that filly really well," the jockey said. "It's kind of a special thing. It's her first official win."

[Glimmerglass]

Worth pointing out and congrats To Rosie/Anna Napravnik!

Napravnik Reaches 300 Wins for Year
12/29/2006 BloodHorse (http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=36881)

Rosie Napravnik reached another milestone during her first full year as a rider when she reached the winners’ circle for the 300th time this year with Merryland Monroe ($4) in the seventh race at Laurel Park Dec. 29.

"This is huge," said Napravnik, who has 92 wins during the current fall meeting. "It has been such a great year. To be able to win the 300th for Mike Trombetta is an honor. He is so professional and such a terrific horseman."

The 18-year-old sensation, who ranks sixth nationally in victories, has 259 first place finishes at Laurel Park and Pimlico this year. Only Ramon Dominguez (297 in 2001) and Mark Johnston (292 in 2000) have won more races at the major Maryland tracks in a one-year campaign during this decade.

[Glimmerglass]

Any further updates on Rosie's condition? This was the last report of her spill on Friday 1/26/07 ...

Baltimore Sun 1/27/07 "Jockeys hurt in post-race fall" (http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bal-sp.racing27jan27,0,488640.story?coll=bal-sports-more)

Anna Napravnik and Ryan Fogelsonger, two of the best-known riders in the Maryland jockey community, both went tumbling as their horses fell while galloping out after completing yesterday's sixth race at Laurel Park.

Fogelsonger is expected back today, but Napravnik is expected to be out through the weekend.

"She was released from the hospital at 8 p.m.," John Faltynski, Napravnik's agent, said last night. "All tests were negative, but she won't ride [today] and probably won't ride [tomorrow]. There are no cracks or bruises, but she's really sore."

[Linny]

Rosie earned my respect recently with a big win on a longshot handled by a fellow COTHer. I hope she's back in action soon.

Speaking of "bugs" how about Joe Talamo who won 5 at Fair Grounds on Friday. Check it out!
http://www.fairgroundsracecourse.com/news/racing_news/racing_news_01262007.html

[JanWeber]

Best of luck to Jazz and Rosie in all their endeavors. We had their saintly pony, Chavaro's Formal Attire (Tux). When their mom, trainer Cindy Napravnik bought him, she ran in to answer the phone...when she returned, Jazz at about age 8 had unloaded him and Rosie was underneath him currying him. Hope Rosie has a quick recovery!

[Glimmerglass]

Per Laurel Park 1/28/07: Rosie Napravnik, Maryland’s top rider in 2006, has been released from the hospital but will miss some time after suffering a back injury in a spill at Laurel Park Friday afternoon.

Napravnik, who was released Friday night, took off her mounts Saturday and Sunday and will not take calls for the Jan. 31 program.

“All the x-rays were negative but we are planning to see another doctor on Monday just to be sure,” said John Faltynski, Napravnik’s agent.

Sadly the Maryland Jockey Club planned to honor three local stars who shined in 2006 in ceremonies in-between races, but Rosie Napravnik, the circuit's top rider a year ago, missed the event after suffering a back injury in a spill on Friday.

Btw the final votes for the 2006 Eclipse Apprentice Jockey were: Julien Leparoux, 254; Rosie Napravnik, 7; Martin Garcia, 6;(Voter Abstentions, 4)

[Glimmerglass]

The injuries are going to keep Anna "Rosie" out for more then just a few days ... I hope she'll be back without pain forever :(

Jockey Napravnik sidelined 8 to 12 weeks
January 31, 2007
Thoroughbred Times (http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2007/January/31/Jockey-Napravnik-sidelined-8-to-12-weeks.aspx)

Jockey Rosie Napravnik, Maryland’s top rider last year, will be out eight to 12 weeks with back injuries suffered in a spill last Friday at Laurel Park.

Napravnik suffered three compression fractures in the thoracic region of her back when her mount, Look Out Lorie, tumbled to the ground after finishing second in the sixth race, spilling the 18-year-old rider.

The thoracic vertebrae compose the middle segment of the vertebral column, between the cervical vertebrae and the lumbar vertebrae.

“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 for the Eclipse Award for outstanding apprentice jockey. “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 in the brief career of the New Jersey native. In November 2005, she fractured her left 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 the major Maryland tracks a year ago.

Napravnik currently has 387 career victories with more than $8-million in earnings.

[wilkins2]

Her Dad told me she would be out for 6-8 weeks. I'm sure she will be back soon as possible.

Sheryl

[Glimmerglass]

When Rosie returns to racing in April from her injuries she'll be going to Delaware Park to ride

Napravnik moving to Delaware Park
Injured jockey may be exercising in 2 weeks
By Sandra McKee
Baltimore Sun Reporter (http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/horseracing/bal-sp.napravnik05apr05,0,817884.story?coll=bal-sports-horse)
Published April 5, 2007

Looking forward to gaining clearance from her doctor April 18 to return to riding, jockey Anna "Rosie" Napravnik said she has major changes planned for when she gets back in the saddle.

The Eclipse Award runner-up for apprentice jockey last season, Napravnik said she has come upon an opportunity too good to pass up and will move her riding base from Maryland to Delaware Park. As part of that arrangement, she will also begin working with agent Steve Rushing, recognized as the top jockey agent in the Mid-Atlantic.

"It may be a step to bigger things in the long run," she said yesterday. "But it's not the objective right now. It's simply that I have the opportunity to work with a very good agent who works in Delaware. It will be a chance to work in a stronger jockey colony, with a little bit better horses and better outfits. And it will all be a bigger challenge."

Napravnik has been sidelined since Jan. 26, when she took a spill at Laurel Park and suffered three compression fractures in the middle of her back. At that time, she was told it would take up to 12 weeks of rest before she could return to riding.

"My back has been feeling fine since the first couple of weeks," said Napravnik, 19. "I really haven't had any pain in my back. The doctor said it takes 12 weeks to heal, and I go back to him on April 18. Hopefully, I can get on horses on the 19th and be back two weeks later."

Trainer Dickie Small, for whom Napravnik won her first race and for whom she worked as an exercise rider shortly after coming to Maryland, said when Napravnik is given clearance to ride, she will return to exercising his horses in the mornings at Pimlico to get some of her conditioning back.

Napravnik said she has not lost 100 percent of her conditioning, "but compared to where I need to be, it's a tremendous loss." Her plan is to work with Small's horses "for a week or so," while working out at a gym, rowing and running at home and then go to Delaware Park, where she will continue to exercise horses in the morning until she feels ready to return to racing.

Last year, Napravnik won 259 races at Laurel Park and Pimlico, leading riders during all four meets.

[Acertainsmile]

It should be interesting to see what happens with Rosie at Delaware, her new agent is awesome, and has handled some of the best around here. I had no idea she was making a change... I spoke with her right after her accident, I will be calling to gossip soon!

[Glimmerglass]

Anything further on Rosie's condition following Wednesday (6/27) incident?

Jockey Rosie Napravnik appeared to avoid serious injury after her mount, Page Six Obsessed, bolted going into the first turn and went through the outer rail in Wednesday's second race at Delaware Park. Napravnik got up but was limping noticeably and was taken to a nearby hospital for precautionary X-rays.

Source: DRF (http://www.drf.com/news/article/86167.html)

According to Equibase as of toay (6-28-07) (http://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbTopLeadersByTrackDisplay.cfm?TRK=DEL&CY=USA&STAT=J) Rosie is 5th is the standings with wins at DelPark (4/28/07 meet start).

A. R. Napravnik 157 starts: 28-25-26 $707,142 earnings

[Linny]

No update on Rosie but note that Julien Leparoux won SIX of 9 at Churchill on Wednesday. The kid can ride.

[Glimmerglass]

No update on Rosie but note that Julien Leparoux won SIX of 9 at Churchill on Wednesday. The kid can ride.

Yep, some great and welcomed news for the "French Connection" crew especially with Patrick's barn at Keeneland under inquiry by Kentucky racing officials (http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=39520) ...

[Glimmerglass]

Did anyone see - or have new info on her condition - regarding a bad spill by Rosie in early July at Colonial Downs?

Delaware Online 7-13-07 "DelPark jockey Napravnik injured" (http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/SPORTS/707130377/1002)

Jockey Anna "Rosie" Napravnik, a rising star based at Delaware Park, was seriously injured in a fall from her horse last Friday night [July 6] at Colonial Downs (Va.).

Napravnik, tied with Kendrick Carmouche for sixth place in the 2007 DelPark standings with 30 wins, broke her left wrist and right pinky finger in a fall during the sixth race, a 51¼2-furlong allowance on the turf. Napravnik fell when her horse, Afleet Lulu, went down during the race due to a broken leg. Afleet Lulu, trained by A. Ferris Allen III, had to be humanely destroyed.

Steve Rushing, Napravnik's agent, said Rosie, underwent emergency surgery at Union Memorial Hospital on Sunday in Baltimore, and is now resting at home in Maryland. Due to the severity of her injuries, no time table for her return has been set.

[JER]

Napravnik .... broke her left wrist and right pinky finger in a fall during the sixth race, a 51¼2-furlong allowance on the turf. (...) Due to the severity of her injuries, no time table for her return has been set.

A broken wrist and pinky? How severe can that be?

I hope she recovers well -- she's had more than her share of tough falls.

[Acertainsmile]

I tried to email her the other day, and had the wrong address... also cant find her number, will have to give Steve a call.... I'll let you know how she is.. I'm sure she's fine, just probably severly annoyed at this point!

[Glimmerglass]

Digging the thread back up ...

DRF 3-19-08 "Napravnik wins with first local mount" (http://www.drf.com/news/article/93058.html)

Rosie Napravnik, an Eclipse Award finalist as an apprentice in 2006 and currently the leading rider at Laurel, made the most of her first opportunity to ride at Gulfstream Park, guiding Live by Request to an easy victory for trainer Peter Walder in Monday's third race.

Napravnik was accompanied to town by her agent, former trainer Bob Klesaris, who said the real purpose of the trip was to meet some of the Florida-based trainers planning to ship horses to Delaware Park for the 2008 meet. Napravnik will shift her tack to Delaware during the spring.

"I was just a passenger today, I had a ton of horse all the way," Napravnik said in the jockeys' room shortly after the race. "I'm looking forward to riding for Mr. Walder again. I've had a bunch of calls already from friends congratulating me for winning a race at Gulfstream Park. To me, it was just another day at the office."

Walder sounded like he'd be using Napravnik again in the future.

"That girl can ride," he said. "I was very impressed."

[Linny]

Another young woman to watch is Carol Cedeno. She rides in NY and Philly and just lost her "bug." She won today at AQU with a great persevering ride. Many riders wouldn't have won with this horse.

[Glimmerglass]

Damn another nasty spill for Rosie ...

Delaware News Journal Aug 5, 2008 "Jockey could miss five months with broken leg" (http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080805/SPORTS09/80805040/1002/SPORTS)

Jockey Anna “Rosie” Napravnik, the second-leading jockey at Delaware Park this summer, could be out five months after breaking a leg in a racing accident at Delaware Park on Saturday.

According to her agent, Bob Klesaris, Napravnik underwent surgery at Christiana Hospital to repair broken bones in her left leg. She was hurt when her mount, Pickering, went down in the stretch of the $75,000 Nick Shuk Memorial Turf Stakes.

The race chart indicates that Pickering stalked the pace racing along the inside rail, clipped the heels of Sir Diamond (Mario Pino up) with horse and rider going down in midstretch. Termsofengagement, racing behind Pickering, stumbled over the fallen Napravnik and lost his jockey Pablo Morales.

“The bones she broke were the fibula and tibia,’” said Klesaris. “Just so very unfortunate for her.”

Klesaris said that Napravnik was released from the hospital on Monday afternoon. A Delaware Park spokesman said that Morales and the two horses were not seriously injured.

Klesaris said that Napravnik could be sidelined for three to five months.

Napravnik, 20, tallied 65 wins and earnings of more than $1,833,000 during the 2008 Delaware Park meet. She began riding full time at the track in April 2007.

[Sing Mia Song]

Just as an aside, ARN hates being called Rosie. ;) She prefers Anna.

[Glimmerglass]

Just as an aside, ARN hates being called Rosie. ;) She prefers Anna.

Yep cited once before she was insisting Anna be used. Although I'm sure George Chavez wasn't really keen on being called "Chop Chop" but he never could shake it either ;)

[Glimmerglass]

In light of Julien's major accomplishment today at Churchill Downs - damn the guy is good!

AP 11-12-08 "Jockey Leparoux brings home 7 winners at Churchill" (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/11/12/sports/RAC-Leparouxs-Big-Day.php)

At one point during Julien Leparoux's record-tying day, a rider approached him in the jockey's room at Churchill Downs and made a simple request.

"Someone said, 'You going to let one of us win one today?'" Leparoux said with a sheepish grin on Tuesday.

The answer: Not really.

The 25-year-old from Chantilly, France, tied Hall of Famer Pat Day's track record with seven wins on one card, narrowly missing a chance to make the record his own when 3-year-old gelding Sinister came up just short in the final race of the day.

Leparoux, however, was hardly complaining after the biggest day of his young career allowed him to equal a record Day set on June 20, 1984.

"I just got lucky," Leparoux said. "I had good horses and a lot of luck. It was good."

Was it ever.

A timely article from Courier-Journal 11-11-08 "Making a quick move" (http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20081111/SPORTS08/811110468/1002/SPORTS) which came out Tue morning before he took 7 wins :)

Mind you this is before today's victories:

The 25-year-old Frenchman again heads the Churchill jockey standings after the first 10 days, with a 24-19 win margin over spring titlist Robby Albarado. That puts him on pace to break Pat Day's fall-meet record of 55 wins set during the 30-day session in 1985.

Leparoux has answered those who wondered what would happen once he lost his apprentice weight allowances -- and when high-profile trainer Patrick Biancone wasn't there to put him on a slew of stakes horses.

"I didn't know what to expect when I started," said Leparoux, who came to the United States in 2003 to work as a groom and exercise rider for Biancone. "My goal was if I could win 50 races, I'd be happy every year."

Leparoux should be very happy after winning 862 races and almost $36 million in purses, and his English has become so fluent that his sense of humor and wit come through.

"I've always said it takes a rider five or six years to really come to themselves, to really get rolling," said his agent, former jockey Steve Bass. "It's very rare you see a jock in three years accomplish as much as Julien."

When I go the track and he's racing there it feels like the days when Bailey was riding - you took a closer look at that entry and never counted them out.

[Blinkers On]

Banner day for him, but Gomez and Bejarano aren't there and that has an impact on the jockey colony there.

[Timex]

whether rafael or garrett were there or not, that kid can really ride. he continues to impress me.

[Glimmerglass]

It will be interesting to see how many mounts she gets. A lot of good female riders already at the Big A ... TB Times 11-24-08 "Napravnik to move tack to Aqueduct" (http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2008/November/24/Napravnik-to-move-tack-to-Aqueduct.aspx)

Klesaris said his goal is to have Napravnik ranked among the top five or six riders at the Aqueduct winter meet.

“I feel like it’s a big move, but I feel like I’m so ready for it,” Napravnik said. “I’m so focused and feel confident and feel great.”

“I see her riding a little bit for a lot of people,” Klesaris said. “I have an enormous amount of connections there. It will take two weeks for all of New York to know she’s there.”

As for Julien Leparoux, as of Monday, (http://www.drf.com/news/article/100134.html) he's poised to overtake Pat Day's record of victories in the fall meet at Churchill.

Julien Leparoux, who rode three winners on both the Saturday and Sunday cards, needs only six wins during the final four-day span to break the Churchill fall-meet record for most wins by a jockey. Into Wednesday, Leparoux had ridden 50 winners, just five short of the record set in 1985 by Pat Day.

Leparoux also leads the jockey standings in mount earnings at this meet with more than $1.35 million.

[Glimmerglass]

It will be interesting to see how many mounts she gets. A lot of good female riders already at the Big A ... TB Times 11-24-08 "Napravnik to move tack to Aqueduct" (http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2008/November/24/Napravnik-to-move-tack-to-Aqueduct.aspx)

She's one tough cookie! She won the 7th race today at the Big A but the horse, Pay In Kind, moving out after crossing the line took a very ugly tumble forward to the ground and pile drove Anna into the ground. Hurt? Evidently not as both horse and rider managed to get into the winners circle albeit looking a bit stunned.