Broodmare Call Them Over doubles the fun

Breeder Jerry Welch, who raises and races harness horses from his 102-acre farm in Waterford, Ohio, was just a bit worried about his broodmare Call Them Over (Call Toll Free) t, 4, 2:04h ($23,520).

It was late January, and the husky broodmare, who was in foal to Long Tom, was due to foal, and was giving the 73-year-old horseman reason to worry.

“She was overdue, and was huge,” Welch noted. “I couldn’t believe how big she had gotten, and when I sent her up to Andy Burkholder’s farm to foal, they even called me and said, you’re right, this mare is huge.”

As it turns out, Call Me Over was huge for a reason. She was carrying twin fillies, which she delivered on Jan. 30. 2024. Both fillies were of normal size, and both began standing and drinking normally.

“The mare is managing both foals really well,” Welch reported. “She’s got hay and water in front of her 24/7, and she’s having no trouble accommodating both babies.”

Welch purchased Call Them Over from the Fred Polk estate on April 6, 2019. Bred by Success Acres, Call Them Over is the seventh foal out of the Overcome mare Overtookthem 3, 2:01.3h ($55,464), and is a full sister to Put Them On Hold 8, 1:54.2f ($505,856); Took The Call 7, 1:59.3h ($143,884); and Call Over Free  6, 1:55.2f ($16,964).  She is a half-sister to Whotookwhat (by Inquirer) 6, 1:55.2f ($682,584); Ajuama (by Jailhouse Jesse) 4, 1:54.3f ($366,700); Whotooksam (by Victory Sam) 4, 1:56.a1 ($137,001); Here’s Ethel (by Equinox Bi) 4, 1:55.4f ($130,268); and Who Tookem (by Inquirer) 3, 1:59.1h ($72,73), etc.

Call Them Over, now 20 in 2024, already has had nine foals to date, including Abequa (by Neely Dunn) 4, 1:57.2f ($107,277); Neely Spring (by Neely Dunn) 4, 1:57.2h ($101,265); Over Six (by Team Six) 4, 1:57.2h ($73,719); and Callit As U Seeit (by Malabar Maple) 4, 1:59.1h ($44,257).

Welch, who campaigns a small group of racehorses, is also the breeder-owner of Jurassic Hattie, a daughter of Volstead, now 3, who earned $127,834 as a freshman, taking a mark of 2, 1:56.2f. Making just seven starts last season, Jurassic Hattie won her very first lifetime start, the $150,000 Next Generation at Scioto Downs on July 1, 2023. She won a pair of Ohio Fair Stakes, and a $20,000 Buckeye Stallion Series leg at Delaware by nine lengths on Sept. 19, 2023.

Utilizing the “Jurassic” moniker, Welch says he has a pair of names already picked out for the two bay fillies.

“The one filly has a small star on her forehead, and we’ll call her Jurassic Venus,” Welch offered. “The other one has a very small star and a snip, and we’ll call her Jurassic Serena.”

Welch has promised this reporter that he’ll keep us updated with the goings on of these two youngsters, and most involved with racehorses know how rare it is for twins to be carried to first term, then successfully delivered in a normal state. Typically, one is much larger than the other, or one is born deformed or dead. USTA records indicate that only 50 prior pairs of Standardbred twins have raced successfully in the past 50 years. The future for “Venus” and “Serena,” appears to bode well as both are normal, and both are receiving a great deal of attention from their mom.

by Kim Rinker, for Harnesslink