For most of the 34,771 fans at Saratoga Race Course on July 29, the dramatic finishes they witnessed in the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) and Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) will be a part of their memories for years to come.
A special win for the Joe Sharp barn, as #5 Callie's Grit wins the finale at Saratoga under @luissaezpty! 🏇
— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) July 29, 2023
Callie's Grit was named in honor of Callie Witt, one of Joe's exercise riders who tragically passed away in a riding accident last year.
🎥 #TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/C2fwPsENzm
Yet for anyone who knew Callie Witt or is aware of the tragic accident that cut her life short, not even two dramatic finishes involving Eclipse Award champions such as Forte and Elite Power could come close to the emotions generated by what happened in the 12th and final race of the day.
In its most basic form, it was a maiden special weight race for fillies and mares that was washed off the turf. Yet it turned out to be so much more poignant than that.
It was a race that people like trainer Joe Sharp, owners Brad and Misty Grady and Carl Moore, and especially Tim and Jennifer Witt, Callie's parents, will never forget. They were overwhelmed by emotion when Callie's Grit, a 3-year-old filly named for Callie Witt, a 20-year-old exercise rider for Sharp who died in a April 29, 2022 training incident at Keeneland, hung on to record a neck victory that once again brought tears to the eyes of those who knew and loved Callie.
Only this time, they were tears of joy.
"I still get tears in my eyes and it's tough to talk about Callie without choking up," Tim Witt said about his daughter. "But what happened Saturday was so very special for all of us. The race was gut-wrenching until the very end. I was calling on Callie to come help push her across the line and she did."
While nothing will ever replace the huge void created by Callie's passing, the animals she loved so dearly have provided some comfort to family and friends.
In order to honor the memory of the effervescent young woman they lost, Sharp spoke with Grady about naming some of his fillies he owns with Moore after Callie. The first to run was Callie's Passion, who is still a maiden after five starts and was claimed in her third try. Next came, Callie's Grit.
"I have a daughter that same age so it hit home with me," Grady said. "It was such a tragedy to have a 20-year-old girl lose her life. We felt naming horses after her was the right thing to do."
The emotions Sharp has experienced since Callie's Grit first arrived at his barn last year as a 2-year-old confirmed the trainer's belief that the name was a fitting tribute.
"It's such a feel-good story," Sharp said about the filly owned by Grady and Moore. "You can't help but pull for that horse. It's been difficult but we just try to keep moving forward. We'll name a few more 2-year-olds after her and to keep her name and energy alive in hopes of inspiring people to follow in her footsteps."
As devastated as the Witt family was by their loss, Sharp said the entire racing community felt the pain of losing the native Nebraskan who moved to Kentucky two years earlier to pursue her dream of riding horses.
"It's a different level of tragedy when something like that happens. Losing a child is such an unthinkable tragedy. Making the phone call to her parents to tell them what happened is what I hope will be the toughest thing I will ever have to do," Sharp said. "We spend 365 days together in the racetrack community and we are all intertwined. So any time you lose someone who is part of your team or the racing community, it's like losing a family member. It's taken time for us to get over it and it will continue to take time. We're very honored to represent her and carry on Callie's name and I am proud to train a filly with her name on it."
The naming of fillies after her is just part of Callie's lasting legacy. Tim Witt said a Go Fund Me page was set up in her honor by Carlo Vaccarezza accumulated nearly $60,000 and the family used those funds to start the Callie Witt Memorial Foundation on Facebook to benefit her favorite activities.
Among them, funds have been earmarked for the girls wrestling program in Rogers, Neb., where Callie was the 113-pound state champ in 2020, as well as the competitive dance program in the area, and equine and backstretch charities.
Her father said the drive that turned Callie into a champion wrestler was reflective of the passion she brought to all of her endeavors, especially riding.
"She was a fierce competitor and whatever she set her mind to do, she did it," Tim Witt said. "She would do every bit of the work she needed to succeed. She got the bug to ride at 13 and said to me 'I want to go fast, dad. I want to ride racehorses' and she started galloping horses here in Nebraska."
After graduating high school, Callie moved to Kentucky and enrolled at Bluegrass Community and Technical College in Lexington. A teacher recommended to Sharp that he let Callie gallop some horses for him and after just a few mounts, Sharp was sold on the talent and enthusiasm he saw in the teenager.
"Callie was a girl with big dreams from a small town and she took it upon herself to get to Kentucky and pursue her destiny," Sharp said. "I truly believe she would have done some big things in this game."
Tim Witt said Sharp called him and said watching Callie ride reminded him of his wife, grade 1-winning former jockey Rosie Napravnik.
"Joe said after a few days she was handling some of the horses better than some of the guys," he said.
Callie's Grit posted her maiden win in her sixth career start but there was always high hopes for the daughter of Maclean's Music . Last year, she was second in a maiden special weight race on the turf at Saratoga in her career debut and was then sent to Kentucky Downs for the $500,000 Juvenile Fillies Stakes where she was the 5-2 favorite but floundered on a boggy course and finished eighth.
At 3, she posted two seconds and a third, including a second in a race switched to the main track, before arriving at Saratoga.
"The filly was one of our more promising 2-year-olds last year," Sharp said. "She couldn't handle the turf at Kentucky Downs and we gave her time off. She came back and had some circumstantial misfortune."
Perhaps it was all part of fate.
When Callie's Grit was entered July 26 for the race three days later at the Spa, Sharp called the Witts and recommended they journey east for the race to see what he envisioned as the filly's first win in a highly appropriate setting.
"I guess she was waiting for a more special day like Saturday," Sharp said. "If there was ever a stage for Callie, it would have been Saratoga. It was a great honor to win that race."
With his wife unable to make it, Tim arrived the next day and was treated to a moment that he will always cherish.
"It was an incredible moment. Joe said coming off the turf would help the filly. It was truly well worth it being there and everyone back home was so happy about it. My phone blew up with texts right after the race," Tim said. "Brad and Misty and Carl Moore have been phenomenal to us with their support and we're blessed to be connected with them."
Brad Grady won grade 1 races with Girvin but felt an equally uplifting moment standing in the winner's circle after a maiden race.
"It was pretty special and so emotional," he said. "You could not have drawn it up any better than how it turned out."
While Callie's Grit will move on to an allowance or stakes race back in Kentucky, Callie Witt will also be remembered through Callie's Courage, an unraced 2-year-old daughter of Grady's grade 1 winner and stallion Girvin, and more fillies to come in the future.
If Callie's Courage, like her stablemate, can embody the spirit of her namesake, there should be some magical moments in her future.
"Callie had so much talent, drive, and ability," Tim Witt said. "She just didn't have the luck."
