Source: USA TODAY

LOUISVILLE – After showering in the jockey’s room for women at Churchill Downs, Rosie Napravnik traded her mud-caked riding garb for a rose red dress and a big-brimmed, black Kentucky Derby hat. She wasn’t dressed for a victory party, but she had distinguished herself.

Napravnik, 25, bidding to become the first female jockey to win the Kentucky Derby, finished in fifth place on Mylute in the 19-horse field in Saturday’s 139th running of the Derby. The previous best finish by a female jockey in the Derby had been Napravnik’s ninth place in 2011 aboard Pants on Fire.

It was just the eighth start by a female jockey in the Derby. Napravnik now has matched Julie Krone (14th in 1992 and 11th in 1995) with two starts.

“If I moved four places from two years ago to this year, then …,” said Napravnik, her voice trailing off as she did the math in her head for another four-place jump that would put her first the next time.

She finished six lengths behind winning Orb.

“It was really exciting. I was excited to have the best finish by a female,” said Napravnik, who last year became the first female jockey to win the Kentucky Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on the Friday before the Derby.

“We really stepped it up this year. The most exciting thing is about this horse and how well he ran today. I had a really wide trip (after starting in the No. 6 position). He’s very talented. He is really for these classic distance races. And I’m really excited. … He’s really growing into a very nice race horse.”

Earlier this year, Napravnik was riding Shanghai Bobby, who had been a star as a 2-year-old and might have been the favorite in the Derby.

But after Shanghai Bobby was sidelined by a stress fracture in his hip, Napravnik switched to Mylute, who went off in the Derby at 14-1. She had ridden Mylute to a previous victory in an allowance race.

“I couldn’t have been more happy, well, I guess I could have been more pleased today,” she said with a smile. “But I was really pleased with the way he ran.”

Napravnik, who started riding when she raced ponies as a youngster in New Jersey, said she followed the race plan from from trainer Tom Amoss.

“My instructions from Tom were just let him fall out (out of the gate) and run the way he likes to run, which is from behind,” said Napravnik.

“He’s always kind of just very relaxed. He stood in the gate like a statue, which I was thankful for. I was a little bit further back than I anticipated going into the first turn. But Orb, I mean I could have touched him the whole way around there.

“So we got a pretty good trip other than going wide. A lot of times that’s the winning move. And obviously today it was Orb’s.”

Revolutionary, ridden by three-time Derby winner Calvin Borel, took third. Normandy Invasion, ridden by veteran Javier Castellano, was fourth.

Of course, Napravnik was the lone female rider in the Derby.

“I have never wanted to win a photo (finish) for third so bad in my life,” she said.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

LOUISVILLE — One partaker said his $1,000 mint julep tasted just grand.

“It’s fantastic,” Aaron Schneider, 42, of New Orleans said between sips at Churchill Downs in advance of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.

The basic recipe for a standard mint julep is spearmint leaves, bourbon, sugar and water. Schneider took his sips from the gold-plated straw provided with his sterling silver cup.

“Absolutely, it’s the only way to drink it,” he said with a smile.

For the eighth year, the $1,000 mint juleps are being provided by Woodford Reserve, the bourbon maker based in Versailles, Ky. Woodford Reserve says the promotion has generated more than $354,000 in donations to charities in the past seven years. It says this year’s benefactor will be the Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Center for former race horses.

“My wife (Tricia) and I own a horse, and I think it’s just a great fantastic cause. It’s a great event and a great cause and a fantastic mint julep,” said Schneider, who said the drink was an anniversary gift from his wife.

How many sips did he figure he’d take to finish it off?

“Hopefully, a lot. A couple of hundred probably. I’ll sip it real slow. For a thousand bucks, I’m going to take quite awhile to enjoy it,” Scheider said at the Woodford Reserve booth.

Even at 100 sips, that would still be $10 a sip. The regular minute juleps at the track Saturday were selling for $11 (up from $8 earlier this week). Churchill Downs estimated about 120,000 of them would be sold here Friday and Saturday.

Woodford Reserve is selling 79 of the $1,000 mint juleps. They were available for reservation online in the weeks leading up to the Derby. The cups include an engraved horse and rider and a gold-plated garland of roses.

Woodford also has had nine more cups (more gold plating and one-fifth carat of diamonds) up for online auction at starting bids of $2,000 each and a single cup has been up for auction at a starting bid of $5,000.

With the single “Golden Opportunity” cup, the buyer gets the opportunity to present the trophy to the winner of the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (the race before the Derby), a tour of the Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Center with a Hall of Fame jockey and a tour and dinner at the Woodford distillery.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

Black Onyx, a 50-1 longshot who had the No. 1 position in the starting gate for the Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, was scratched Friday morning from the race with a bone chip in his front left ankle, according to trainer Kelly Breen.

“It couldn’t have been any worse timing,” said Breen, based at Monmouth Park in New Jersey.

The timing also was bad for Fear the Kitten, ranked 21st in the point standings that determined the 20 horses eligible at the Derby.

The scratch came after the 9:00 a.m. deadline for adding Fear the Kitten to the field as an alternate, according to John Asher, vice president of racing communications for Churchill Downs.

So position No. 1 in the gate will be left open Saturday. That will mean one less horse more between jockey Calvin “Borail” Borel and the rail he used to ride Mine That Bird to a Derby victory in 2009. Borel, who loves the rail, will ride Revolutionary from starting position No. 3 on Saturday.

“I’ve been saying it the whole week how tough it is to get here. My family came in at midnight last night. We were all gung ho,” said Breen.

Breen said it was uncertain whether Black Onyx, winner in March of the Spiral at Turfway Park, would require surgery.

“He’s back in the barn. He’s not really feeling that bad because he just tried to bite me,” said Breen.

Breen said a “little swelling” was noticed before the horse galloped at about 5:45 a.m.

“He actually looked pretty good training this morning,” said Breen.

But after the gallop, there were concerns. Breen described the horse’s lameness after the gallop as a “one of our five.”

He said the chip wasn’t confirmed until after x-rays were taken at about 9:30 a.m.

“We actually took two sets of x-rays. The first set … was very hard to see. I saw a little bit of a shadow and (we) had to go back for a second round. And the second round was where we found the non-displaced chip,” said Breen.

Black Onyx is owned by Sam Herzberg under the banner Sterling Stables. He was to have been ridden by jockey Joe Bravo.

“I just really feel bad for Mr. Herzberg. He put so much (into the horse). Kelly’s whole team really did,” said Bravo. ” … I’m just very thankful that the horse is going to be okay.”

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.