‘Tragic loss.’ Horse racing community reacts to death of young Keeneland exercise rider.
Tragedy took place before the final day of the 2022 Keeneland Spring Meet on Friday, with the death of an exercise rider.
Callie Witt, 20, died Friday morning due to blunt force injuries sustained after she was thrown from a 3-year-old during a morning training workout on the Keeneland training track.
Witt was working as an exercise rider for trainer Joe Sharp, who told the Herald-Leader he was at Churchill Downs in Louisville when the accident occurred.
More information about Witt’s death can be found here.
Witt, a Nebraska native, was also a state champion wrestler in high school before arriving in Lexington.
Following Keeneland’s announcement of Witt’s death just before 11 a.m., social media posts mourned her death and honored her life.
Some of those posts are included below:
This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 3:22 PM.
