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Trainer John Servis Says He Is Already At The “Find Out” Stage With 2-Year-Old Witchy Vibes In Saturday’s $100,000 Sorority Stakes
August 26, 2026
Trainer John Servis says he’s already at the “find out” stage when Witchy Vibes, a 2-year-old filly who launched her career 10 weeks ago, makes just her third career start in Saturday’s $100,000 Sorority Stakes at Monmouth Park.
Her debut, a sharp score in maiden special weight company at Monmouth Park on June 28, was followed by a never-involved fifth-place finish in the muddy Blue Hen Stakes at Delaware Park on Aug. 8.
So for Servis, this is already the fork in the road for the Kentucky-bred daughter of Epicenter. A total of nine 2-year-old fillies have entered the one-mile feature that has been a staple on the Jersey Shore track’s stakes calendar since 1956.
“I’m not convinced yet that she’s a stakes (caliber) filly,” said Servis. “She’s not one of our better 2-year-olds. I think she will get the mile with no problem. It’s just a question of whether she is good enough and who she is running against.
“Ask me after the race and I’ll tell you what I think of her. I’m going to find out more about her this race.”
Servis said his original plan was to have stablemate Fifth And Chestnut go in the Sorority off her impressive debut “but I had to stop on her.”
“This was our fallback plan,” he said of Witchy Vibes.
A $150,000 yearling purchase, Witchy Vibes is owned by Main Line Racing and Avalon Stables, long-time clients of Servis.
“I expected her to run good first time our and she did,” said Servis, who entered the day with 2,125 career wins. “The horse she beat that day – Philly Ruckus – came back to win by six lengths. So that’s always flattering.
“I also expected her to run really good in her second start at Delaware and she didn’t. She was very, very green. So we’re putting on the blinkers for this race.
“What happened that day was a combination of the muddy track and her being green. She was looking for an exit. I thought at one point she was going to bolt. All of that mud in her face is something she wasn’t used to.”
Six of the nine fillies entered are coming off wins, including the Kinnon LaRose-trained Intraosseous, the Brendan Walsh-trained Emphatic and the Nesvil Bailon-trained I’m With her.
Intraosseous comes off a sharp score in maiden special weight company at Saratoga, while Emphatic was a 6¾-length winner in her debut at Colonial Downs.
But it’s the maiden Spectacular Sam, trained by Robert Medina, that Servis believes may be the horse to beat.
Though 0-for-2 in her brief career, Spectacular Sam was second, beaten just a neck, by Stripe Show in her last start on July 25 at Ellis Park.
Stripe Show is also trained by Servis. He is pointing her to a graded stakes after her debut win.
“I have Stripe Show in Kentucky and I’m pretty high on her and she only beat Spectacular Sam by a neck,” said Servis. “My filly is a pretty nice one. We’re going to a graded stakes next with Stripe Show, which shows you how much I think of her. So Medina’s horse might be a nice one as well.”
For now, though, his focus is on Witchy Vibes and finding out what kind of filly she can be.
“She hasn’t given me anything to go ga-ga about yet,” he said. “But she has only run twice with mixed results so we’ll see.”
Parx regular Frankie Pennington has the return call to ride.
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