Callie Witt, the 20-year-old exercise rider who died last spring after being thrown by a young horse, is being memorialized by a pair of 2-year-old fillies. That includes Callie's Grit, who runs in Saturday's $500,000 Aristocrat Juvenile Fillies at the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs.
Callie's Grit and Callie's Passion are co-owned by Brad Grady and Carl Moore and trained by Joe Sharp. Grady became close to Witt's parents, Tim and Jennifer, after their daughter's death. Grady has a daughter the same age as Witt and, as one of Sharp's long-time clients, is close to much of the trainer's staff.
“Brad made a connection with the family,” Sharp said. “We had talked about naming a couple of horses in honor of Callie. Callie's parents actually came up with the names of a couple of horses, Callie's Grit and Callie's Passion. It's a pretty neat deal, and it's nice to see that one of the fillies can actually really, really run.”
Callie's Grit has raced once, finishing second in a Saratoga maiden race on turf. She's 6-1 in the morning line in the field of nine, with the meet's early riding leader, Tyler Gaffalione, back on board.
“We were going to go in a mile maiden special weight,” Sharp said. “The Juvenile Fillies looked like it was coming up pretty similar. The other horse in there that is favored (Janis Joplin) is a maiden. So we went ahead and said we'd take a shot.”
If Callie's Grit would win, “it would be incredible for so many reasons,” he said. “It would be great. Her family has been amazing. We've gotten really close. Obviously tragedy brings people closer together. They're just really quality people, and hopefully we can do more to honor them and to honor her.”
Witt, who was from Rogers, Neb., attended the Bluegrass Community and Technical College's North American Racing Academy as she worked toward becoming a jockey. Her obituary read in part: “Callie loved horses, she was born with them running through her veins….. Callie worked harder than anyone you would ever know, constantly raising the bar to be better, be stronger and at the top of (her) craft. She always knew the risk of her passion and she left us living out her dreams.”
The post ‘Incredible For So Many Reasons’: Stakes-Entered Callie’s Grit Honors Late Exercise Rider appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
