Nebraska horse racing community remembers Callie Witt’s talent and passion

She competed in barrel racing and different occasions and had been driving Thoroughbreds since she was 14. She was a member of Future Farmers of America and 4-H and gained a number of awards with these organizations.

The redhead additionally had a energetic spirit and a powerful sense of dedication, mentioned North Bend Central athletic director Jon Baehr.

“I had Callie in my class in center faculty,” he mentioned. “She was all the time very spunky and really outgoing.”

Witt labored at Grand Island’s Fonner Park, exercising horses within the morning and escorting them to the monitor within the afternoon aboard her pony, Miles. She was a gifted rider, one thing observed by Nebraska coach Schuyler Condon.

“She might change into one with the horse,” Condon instructed Kentucky TV station WLEX. “She might train horses to do issues that most individuals couldn’t.”

Additionally an achieved wrestler at North Bend, Callie had the energy and agility to pursue her lifelong purpose of changing into a jockey. After commencement, she moved to the house of horse racing — Kentucky.

She enrolled within the equine program at Bluegrass Neighborhood and Technical School of Lexington. To enhance her abilities, she rode at native Thoroughbred coaching farms.

It was whereas attending faculty that she met coach Joe Sharp, who raced horses at a number of main tracks. Callie was referred to Sharp by Dixie Kendall, a coordinator of the college’s equine program.

Kendall instructed WLEX that Witt was considered one of her greatest college students and wanting to be taught.

“She was all the time constructive,” Kendall mentioned. “All the time the primary one to point out up and the final one to go away.”

Sharp, who accepted interns from this system, mentioned Kendall instructed him that she was sending somebody to him. If she didn’t work out, Sharp might name again in per week and discover another person.

The coach mentioned it didn’t take practically that lengthy to make his choice.

“Callie rode two horses that morning and I texted Dixie proper again,” he mentioned. “I didn’t want per week to see how gifted she was.”

Sharp noticed one thing else in Witt. She reminded him of his spouse, Rosie Napravnik, who nonetheless has the most effective finishes for a feminine jockey in Kentucky Derby and Preakness historical past.

“There have been loads of similarities between the 2,” he mentioned. “I might see the hearth and the fervour that Callie had.”

Whereas working horses sooner or later, Witt crossed paths with photographer Jamie Martinez. She was taking pictures on the monitor and observed Witt, whose crimson hair flowed from the again of her driving helmet.

“I wasn’t there to take her picture, however I felt like I simply needed to,” Martinez mentioned. “This gorgeous woman had this massive smile and such a joyful look on her face.”

Witt was working as an train rider for Sharp at Kentucky’s Keeneland Racecourse on the morning of April 29 when tragedy struck. The horse she was driving took an abrupt sidestep, inflicting Witt to lose her stability and fall on the coaching monitor.

“It was a kind of issues that may occur on any given day,” Sharp mentioned. “Callie was caught off guard and simply hit the monitor mistaken.”

A medical staff rushed to the scene however was unable to avoid wasting Witt. She was 20.

Keeneland remembered Witt all through the races later that day, flying their flags at half-staff and holding a second of silence. Sharp educated the winner of the seventh race that day, and the secure employees introduced her pony Miles into the winner’s circle for the picture.

A number of different racetracks additionally paid tribute to Witt. That included New York’s Belmont Park, which held a second of silence that included a gathering of the entire monitor’s jockeys.

In a press release launched after the accident, Witt’s household thanked the racing group for the outpouring of help. Personal providers have been held for Witt, whose reminiscence lives on at North Bend.

“She was all the time very decided and wished to blaze her personal path,” Baehr mentioned. “It got here as a shock to lose somebody so younger, however we’ll all the time bear in mind her.”