12/12/2022
💥OKC Futurity Second Round Winner Jordan Harrell and DLJ Poignant Cartel Enter Futurity Finals with Fastest Qualifying Time💥
It's OKC Futurity Finals Sunday in Oklahoma City, and Jordan Harrell and DLJ Poignant Cartel enter the top-40 short go as high callback from a 15.292 that won the second go-round for $3,919.
"I drug a barrel in the first go to run a 15.6 and place in the round, so I was super happy about that [time], but it would have been nice to have qualified in that round, so there was some more pressure for the second round," Harrell said. "I told myself that it didn't matter and he was a good horse either way. I did feel like he deserved to make it [to the finals], but if he didn't it was going to be OK. I tried to have fun and make a smooth, clean run, because he's fast enough that he's going to clock."
The 4-year-old gelding by Mr Ease Cartel and out of Poignant by Invisible I***n has been in the 21-year-old barrel horse trainer's program since winter of his 2-year-old year. Harrell prefers off-the-track prospects, and the race-bred speedster immediately caught her eye when he came up for sale on Facebook through her friend Mikey Callahan.
"He came off the track as a 2-year-old, and it's kind of weird because he broke his maiden two years ago today on the dot, and he was in my barn nine days later," Harrell recounted. "We have another Mr Ease Cartel that we raised, and we really like him. I love the off-the-track horses. They have a special place in my heart."
The gelding hasn't had the full futurity year Harrell planned for after soundness problems forced her turn him out for a few months. The Hazlehurst, Georgia, trainer now has a chance to capitalize on the gelding's last-chance futurity of the year in Oklahoma City.
"He got put on the back-burner in February of his 3-year-old year because I was moving to Georgia and just had a lot going on, so he ended up getting turned out for six months. Later in the year I got more serious hauling him more, and he was really easy and didn't take a lot of effort. He came on pretty strong early in the year, and he was progressing really fast and then he started to fall off a little bit, and I knew something wasn't quite right," Harrell said. "Dr. Nate Lea, DVM, with Outlaw Equine and my farrier working together helped him come back around. He made his first run back in October, and it hasn't been the easiest thing since he hasn't been hauled much, so we're throwing it all into this."
The OKC Futurity Finals kick off at 12 p.m. CST and can be watched live at okcfuturity.com/webcast
> > > More stories and updates from OKC Futurity week: https://bit.ly/3Y9KjZy
Article by Blanche Schaefer
Photo by Traci Davenport Photography
