[ 44 horseillustrated.com|october 2019 ]
bay for husband, racehorse trainer Joe Sharp,
during his days on the track.
She loved Sanimo’s trot and gallop, and had
always told the owners she wanted him if and
when he retired from racing. Napravnik got
Sanimo right after he turned 3 and gave him
10 months off.
“He’s immature right now, but in four years
he’s going to be a monster,” she says. Sanimo is
aiming for the eventing portion of the Makeover.Her final mount, Bethel Wildcat, was bred,
raced and retired by Stuart Brown, DVM, of
Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Lexington.
“He’s very fancy and a nice prospect,” says
Napravnik. She intends to compete Bethel
Wildcat in eventing as well.
Eventing is Napravnik’s sweet spot: She com-
peted in the 2015 Thoroughbred Makeover, the
2017 Makeover, and the 2018 Makeover, where
she finished with her best placing of 3rd.
Napravnik’s 2015 mount was a horse named
Dare Me, aka Darren.
“He was really a team effort,” Napravnik
explains. “I was pregnant with my son at the
time, so Dorothy Crowell put a lot of training
on him.”
Crowell is a storied trainer in her own
right. She’s long been a Thoroughbred lover,
and aboard her beloved Molokai, was the
national winner of the inaugural CCI4* at
the 1998 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event in
Lexington. Crowell was also an individual
silver medalist at the 1994 World Equestrian
Games and rode Molokai in the 1992 and
1996 Olympics.
Crowell also has competed in the Makeover
in both 2016 and 2017. She intends to compete
two horses in eventing in 2019, Hour’s Truly
and Jasmine’s Gem.The freestyle division is always a crowd favorite as trainers choose
how best to show off their horses’ unique skills.
Anne Litz/courtesy rrpThe makeover’s
hunter/jumper
divisions are
thriving as
interest grows
in bringing
Thoroughbreds
back to the
show circuit.
Anne Litz/courtesy rrp