Something about trainer Joe Sharp makes one sit up and take notice immediately.
For instance, he was only 29 when he decided to leave his job as an assistant to trainer Mike Maker and break out on his own.
How’d that turn out?
Not too shabby.
All Sharp did was win with the first horse he saddled, Holiday Drama, at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 10, 2014. He won with his third starter at Indiana Grand Race Course two weeks later, and within three weeks he had won with five of the first eight horses he saddled at three race tracks.
Who knew it could be so easy to win horse races?
“It kind of was one of those (moments) like you want to pinch yourself,” Sharp said on a national teleconference this week as he prepared to saddle Louisiana Derby winner Girvin in the Kentucky Derby on May 6.
“You get that momentum and you feel a little invincible with the success … we were proud of our start, it’s hard to do.”
Sharp, 32, said he went into his job with a plan.
“I was very aggressive from day one,” he said. “I think that most people are afraid to lose horses when they start because they don’t have many. And my approach was if I lose them and I win, I’ll get more. I think that’s what made us successful.”
Sharp, who is married to former jockey Rosie Napravnik, has seen his stable steadily grow to where he has about 70 horses. Napravnik serves as his top assistant, which is quite beneficial.
“I think the biggest benefit is the fact that I don’t have to pay her,” he joked.
Napravnik played a big part in his decision to leave a secure job with the successful Maker barn and train on his own. He said the decision was not difficult.
“My wife Rosie, she always had a belief in my ability, and her support meant a lot,” Sharp said. “And then Mike Maker, who I respect, he was very supportive. When I brought it up, he pushed me out of the nest in a good way.
“With those two obviously key figures in racing behind me, telling me I was right, it was a no-brainer.”
His latest dilemma with Girvin has not gone as smoothly.
The colt recently developed a quarter crack in his right front hoof, delaying his training. Sharp hopes to work him Saturday morning at Keeneland, which would keep him in line for a start in the Derby exactly one week later. If he can’t breeze this weekend, Sharp says he won’t run in the Derby.
Sharp told the Daily Racing Form’s Byron King on Thursday morning the horse is already “200 percent better” after five visits to the Kentucky Equine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Center in Versailles, Ky., to use the hyperbaric chamber and swimming facilities as an aid in the healing of the foot. A specific bar shoe was also designed to suit Girvin’s feet.
This isn’t the first time the horse has had foot problems. He also developed a quarter crack earlier in the year and responded quickly to treatment.
Sharp has come under scrutiny for changing up Girvin’s schedule the past two weeks, but he holds steadfast in his belief he’s doing what’s best for the horse.
“You know, if I win I’ll be a hero,” he said. “If I lose, I’ll be the young trainer that made mistakes. I’m confident. Like I said, I’m doing the right thing for the horse, so that’s all that matters.”
If Girvin does make the Derby, it would be Sharp’s third attempt at a Grade I victory. He believes the colt has what it takes to win America’s most famous horse race.
“I’m not saying that I think I’m going to win the Derby, but I definitely wouldn’t trade places with anybody,” he said. “I like this horse because he doesn’t get his feelings hurt. He’s always consistent and he’s got the kind of running style that wins big races.”
Sharp would be one of the youngest trainers to saddle a Kentucky Derby starter in its 143 runnings, but if he wins he won’t be the youngest. That distinction belongs to James Rowe Sr., who was 24 when he sent out Hindoo to win the Derby in 1881.
