LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In 2024, women can be found working across all positions and at all levels of horse racing. But when the Kentucky Derby first began, Kentucky Derby Museum curator of Collections Jessica Whitehead said women weren't in the spotlight.
"Horse racing in many, many ways was a man’s sport and women were the ornament who came to the races," she said.
For women who were involved in riding, it wasn't even legal to become a licensed jockey until 1968 when Kathy Kusner successfully sued the Maryland Racing Commission.
"Kathy said, 'I can ride as well as any of these men,'" Whitehead said.
Just two years later, Diane Crump secured her own place in the record books as the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby.
"That was an incredible moment because of the visibility of the Kentucky Derby," Whitehead said.
In the years since, six women have raced in a total of nine Derby races.
Three of those highly coveted spots went to now-retired jockey Rosie Napravnik. She raced in the Derby for the first time at 23 years old in 2011. She'd join the field again in 2013 and 2014.
"Being able to see the grandstand from the race track view, there's only so many people that get to see that view. It's really outrageous, it's cool," Napravnik said.
In 2012, she also became the first woman to win the Kentucky Oaks, streaking passed jockey John Velazquez, riding Believe You Can.
"Turning for home nose for nose with Johnny and knowing he was the favorite and knowing I was going to best him was one of the best moments of my life," Napravnik said.
Becoming a jockey, and riding in major races, was a dream of Napravnik's from a young age, spurred by childhood pony racing and a movie about Triple Crown winners.
"I always wanted to be a jockey and I didn't see difference between men and women when I was seven," she said.
When Napravnik rode her very first race as a licensed jockey, under trainer Dickey Small, she actually rode under her initials so no one would know she was a girl. It's something Napravnik didn't think was necessary at the time.
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"To me it was no big deal. I thought it was sort of an antiquated approach to it and I thought it was a bit overkill," she said. "But it absolutely served its purpose in those early years of my career."
Over the course of her career, Napravnik said she felt she got a fair shot. She thinks other jockeys came to respect her for her skill on the track, and didn't see her as a 'female jockey.'
She credits her success to strategy, determination and a refusal to see obstacles.
"Keeping your head down and doing your job and always trying to improve is what the journey is all about," she said.
Some of Napravnik's predecessors though, faced vocal opposition to their presence at the track, according to Whitehead.
"There were Derby winning jockeys saying, 'Get back in the kitchen; your spaghetti is burning,'" she said of comments from those early days.
Still, with the right to ride secured, the first female jockeys charted a path for future generations.
"There's been no woman to win the Kentucky Derby, and a lot of that has to do with opportunities," Whitehead said.
These days, women claim roles across the horseracing industry, something racing expert and commentator Caton Bredar said wasn't always the case.
"I look back at someone like Julie Krone and I say 'she was the only one,' and she inspired so many to give it a try," Bredar said.
She's hopeful for the future of the sport today, in the hands of promising young jockeys.
"In New York you have jockeys like Katie Davis and Maddie Oliver, so now its more commonplace to have women in the jock' room and the exception are the places that don't have women riders," she said. "It changed so quickly in my estimation, even though I know a lot of people would think it changed very slowly."
Napravnik decided to wrap up her own career as a jockey in 2014, retiring to start a family with her husband, trainer Joe Sharp.
Today, the couple lives on a farm south of Louisville where they run 'Off-Track Sporthorses,' training retired racehorses for new jobs likes dressage, show jumping and barrel racing.
"They're just retired from racing, they live into their late 20's, 30's so there is a lot of life left," Napravnik said. "What inspires me so much is when they come off the track pretty much they know nothing about other than track life, but they are just so open to whatever you throw at them."
The farm is home to dozens of horses, including some Napravnik even once rode herself.
"We have Old Ironsides, who I rode in 2008," she said.
When this years' field of three-year-old thoroughbreds heads to the track, Napravnik knows they'll be ridden by some of the best jockeys in the world. She counts herself as honored to have been among their ranks.
"Just getting there no matter what year it is is a huge, huge feat," Napravnik said. "But being 150 years, if you're 150 years in anything, thinking back on the history of the people who have been there before you, that have led to what the Derby is now compared to what it was 100 years ago, 150 years ago, it's really just incredible philosophy."
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