As October comes to an end, it's safe to say it's been a busy month for trainer Karyn Wittek. Earlier in October, Wittek found herself commuting between the Kentucky Horse Park, where she was riding two of her homebreds in the 2022 Thoroughbred Makeover, and Keeneland, where she saddled Bodieful in a maiden claiming event.
“I've been riding all day, every day,” said Wittek, who also gallops many of her own racehorses.
Wittek was a standout at Makeover not only for riding two horses from her own breeding program, but because she had the only pair of half-siblings in this year's event. Wittek took 7-year-old Maria Rose (by American Lion) to dressage and 8-year-old Spots Appeal (by Spotsgone) to show jumpers. Despite them both being out of Wittek's Successful Appeal mare Mariastheboss and having been raised together on her farm, Wittek said the siblings couldn't be more different.
“They are complete, polar opposites,” she said. “They look different, they act different. Everything he's good at, she's bad at; everything she's good at, he's bad at. And the mom is a 15-hand, little Quarter Horse-looking thing, and then [Maria Rose] is 17 hands; [Spots] is like 16.1 and scrawny.
“All of the babies have been different, but half of them have a really calm personality like him, and the other half are kinda spicy like her.”
Wittek still has Mariasthe boss, as well as another of her daughters and that mare's first foal. Having raised them all herself, she knew a little of what awaited her with both Maria and Spots, but she hadn't started the season with the intent of bringing two horses to the Makeover in her first time at the event.
“It was a lot,' she said. “I was like, what am I signing myself up for? I was going to breed [Maria Rose], but then I got overwhelmed with horses. She made a little over $100,000 on the track.
“I thought, if I'm not going to breed her, I've got to do something else with her. The last thing I want to do after galloping is ride more horses, so I've got to set a goal. So I looked into it and I had like four days to sign up for the Makeover. And then I thought, if I'm going to do it with her, I may as well do it with him, too.”
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Support our journalism while accessing bonus behind-the-scenes content, Q&As, and more. Subscribe to our Patreon stream.Wittek owned and trained Maria Rose throughout her career, which concluded in April 2021 in a starter allowance at Belterra.
Spots Appeal's story was more of a rollercoaster.
“I won with him and then I sold him, and then he ended up in a bad situation,” said Wittek. “The guy didn't mean to mistreat him, but he was skinny and he was running terrible. And then he disappeared. I'd kept telling the guy I'd take him back when he was done.
“I didn't see him for two years. I took him out of the virtual stable and thought he had to have sold him.”
But, in September 2021, two years after his last start, Spots Appeal showed back up in the entries. In his second race after his lay-off, he finished more than 31 lengths off the leader. Wittek called to ask the stewards if there were any poor performer requirements at Belterra. The next thing she knew, Spots was on the stewards' list and they were returning her call, asking if she was still willing to take him.
“My daughter's in love with him now, so he can never leave,” said Wittek. “I've loved showing him, he's just been a blast. He's like Old Faithful.”
Wittek says that Spots has incredible versatility. She thought about entering him competitive trail, but struggled to find obstacles to school in time for the October competition. She also thinks he could do well as a field hunter, once he gets some practice.
“It was so fun,” she said just after her jumper round with Spots. “I smiled the whole time. We knocked two rails, just because he got sloppy on some of the smaller jumps, but the oxers were beautiful and he was just so well-behaved.”
What made the feat more impressive was Wittek's own learning curve. Wittek said her 2022 season ahead of the Makeover was her first time showing dressage, and hadn't shown at all since competing hunt seat on her intercollegiate team in college.
“I'm learning the process with them,” she said. “I consider myself a retired racehorse too.
“We're all figuring it out — together.”
The post From Foaling To Makeover, Breeder/Trainer Wittek Stands Beside Two Half-Siblings In Their New Careers appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
