Days after a successful second brain surgery to address complications related to an early June procedure that removed a benign brain tumor, trainer Joe Sharp returned to work this week, observing morning breezes at Churchill Downs Trackside.
Though the 35-year-old took it easy—prior to his health issues, he galloped some of the horses he trains—he was pleased to be back in a reduced capacity. He drove his vehicle alongside the track and watched from the rail.
Just last week, he had been at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to undergo follow-up surgery after strain during his recovery required medical attention. He had been doing well for the first month following the first surgery.
He flew to Texas last week with his wife, former jockey Rosie Napravnik, on a private plane made available to them from one of his owners, Brad Grady.
Sharp trained the Grady-owned Girvin to win the betfair.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park in 2017.
"They had to go back in and basically reopen everything like they did before," he said in a telephone interview. "They had to put a patch on what is basically the brain skin and then close it back up. It was a lot less invasive. It was a two-hour surgery vs. an 11-hour surgery the first time. Obviously, the recovery was a lot easier than it was the first time."
Sharp says he is under doctor's orders to not lift anything heavier than 10 pounds for the next 90 days but can gradually start resuming normal physical activity. His prognosis remains good, though the removal of the tumor in the initial surgery robbed him of his hearing in his right ear as doctors had expected.
He appears accepting of that loss, particularly after fearing the worst when he was diagnosed in the summer of 2019. Only at the urging of then-jockey agent Richard DePass did he pursue a second opinion after originally told by a doctor that he had vertigo.
"That first four days was awful," he said of learning of the tumor and awaiting results that did not show any cancer. "I didn't know—to me, a brain tumor was a one-way ticket."
Instead, he learned he had a tumor called an acoustic neuroma, which develops on the balance and auditory nerves leading from the inner ear to the brain, pressure that can lead to imbalance and hearing loss, according to Mayo Clinic. He said some of his symptoms were headaches and balance problems.
Sharp, a native of Martinsburg, W.V., who resides in the Louisville area with Napravnik and his three children, is appreciative of his family and staff's backing. His father, Marc, a trainer, took time off to be with him, joining his usual support network, which includes his mother, Sara Escudero, who is married to trainer Bret Calhoun.
"I've had a lot of great support," he said. "My owners have been great, haven't lost any business. Our staff has been great, kept the ball rolling."
Sharp has four horses entered Aug. 8 at Ellis Park and another entrant Aug. 11 at Indiana Grand. A former jockey, he has won 582 races and more than $22.8 million in purses since beginning his training career in 2014 after serving as an assistant to trainer Mike Maker.
