With a Gold elimination and Gold final trophy in her possession, two-year-old trotting filly Witch Way has already accomplished everything her owners had hoped for, so any success she achieves in
Wednesday’s Gold elimination at Flamboro Downs will just be icing on what has so far been a very sweet cake.
“I just do it as a hobby and Joe [MacIsaac] just trains the horses we own ourselves, we don’t have any outside horses, so it’s kind of nice,” says breeder Carolyn Williston of Moffat, Ont. “You always wait for one of these nice horses to come along, that’s what you always dream. So even if she doesn’t win another Gold, she’s proven herself to us.”
Witch Way and driver Randy Waples earned their Gold final title with a front end effort at Grand River Raceway on July 11, hitting the wire half a length ahead of their peers in 2:01. The win resembled the pair’s Gold elimination effort, which saw them circle the Elora half-mile in 2:03, controlling the tempo for more than half the race.
Waples first sat behind the daughter of Ken Warkentin in her second qualifying effort, on June 16 at Mohawk Racetrack. The filly logged a 2:02 victory with a late sprint and signed up a charter member of her fan club.
“Randy just loved her. The first word out of his mouth when he pulled her up was, ‘Sweet,’” recalls Williston with a chuckle. “He really liked her.”
The Milton, Ont. resident will steer Witch Way from Post 2 in Wednesday’s second $40,000 Gold elimination. Among the fillies joining them in Race 6 is Destinys Magic, a Gold elimination winner at Grand River and third-place finisher in the July 11 final, who will start from Post 1, and Quantum Ladyabra, who was a runner-up in elimination action at Grand River and gets Post 3.
Heading into the Grand River event, Williston was concerned about how Witch Way would handle the half-mile oval, but Waples allayed her fears and the filly proved the reinsman correct with her effortless victories.
“I was wondering about the turns and Randy didn’t think she’d have any problems with the turns, she does it so effortless. With me I always kind of hold my breath for the two minutes while they’re out there,” admits Williston, who shares ownership of the filly with Doug Millard of Woodstock, Ont. “I’ve worked for Bill Wellwood and Larry Walker, and you watch these trotters go, and it’s like, ‘Oh please don’t run, please don’t run,’ the whole time I’m watching trotters, it doesn’t matter how safe they are.
The long-legged youngster — who had already reached the 16.2 hand mark in June — also impressed Williston and trainer Joe MacIsaac with her even tempered approach to an unfamiliar racetrack and the excitement of race day.
“Our filly, one thing about her, she’s got a head on her shoulders. She’d been to Florida and then to Mohawk, but she’d never been shipped anywhere else to train, and she took Grand River like, ‘Oh yeah, okay,’” recalls Williston. “She hardly looked at anything; she just took it all in stride.
“The first thing Joe did was check the next morning after that final, and her grain was completely gone from her breakfast. She never missed a meal,” she adds. “I’ve looked after a lot of fillies, and that’s half the concern in the summer is keeping weight on them and keeping them half sane. But she’s more like a colt that way; she just takes everything in stride.”
Witch Way is the fourth foal from Williston’s broodmare Chelemark Gizmo, and has already eclipsed her elder sibling’s in earnings, however, the filly’s success has not come as a complete surprise to the breeder. When Williston worked for trainer Larry Walker she cared for a young trotting filly called Shipps Treasure. Shipps Treasure earned $44,558 in her racing career, but as a broodmare she produced $710,353 winner Caesar in her first mating to Balanced Image. Based on Williston’s connection to Shipps Treasure, MacIsaac purchased Caesar out of the 1998 yearling sale, in partnership with John Cherry of Campbellville, Ont. and James Cherry of Ajax, Ont., and raced the gelding for the first five years of his nine-year career.
“It’s not just a mare I picked out of a hat, I’ve followed this line for a while,” notes Williston, adding that each member of the family seems to share a similar temperament. “They all have the kind of attitude where you have to ask them, you can’t just go in and be aggressive with them.
“She’s a very nice filly to be around, but she lives up to her name, she can be a witch,” she adds ruefully.
With four Gold eliminations on Flamboro Downs’ Wednesday afternoon program, Witch Way and Waples will need a top two finish to get a shot at defending their Gold final title on July 27. In addition to Race 6, the fillies will battle in Races 4, 8 and 10 to earn one of eight spots in the $130,000 Gold final. Post time for Flamboro Downs’ Wednesday, July 20 program is 1 p.m.
To view Wednesday's harness racing entries, click on the following link: Wednesday Entries - Flamboro Downs.
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