Page 94 - January 2021

Aha Moment, who finished third in the All Harrel’s first partnership was with the late Joe Peacock and Hail Corona, who broke a track American Futurity-G1. record on his first out in the Lazy E Futurity trials and went on to win the Grade 2 finals.
Jimmy and Marilyn surrounded by family and friends after winning the Rainbow Derby-G1 with Separate Bet.
Take Off Jess, who finished second in the All American Futurity-G1.
HIS TOP RUNNERS
Jimmy’s love for interacting with people
in the industry kept him involved in many partnerships. His first partnership with the
late Joe Peacock began with Hail Corona, by Corona Cartel and out of Etta Ryon, by Windy Ryon. “Joe had sat by me at Ruidoso for years and years and one night, he asked if I’d partner with him if I bought a horse,” Jimmy says. “I said, ‘Sure, misery loves company.’ I asked if he wanted to come down and help me pick one, but he said, ‘No, just whatever you pick.’
“Nothing really fit me that night, so I ended up with just the one that I’d already bought, which I’d paid $18,500 or $21,000 for. I said, ‘Joe, he’s just a big, fat horse that’s bred the way I like but he’s not in too good a shape.’ Joe said, ‘I never saw someone talk so long trying not to sell me half of his horse!’ I said I didn’t know whether the horse was any good or not, but he still wanted to buy half of him. It turned out that as a 2 year old, Hail Corona broke a track
record at Remington Park his first out! So, the next year Joe asked if I was going to buy another one with him, and in 2003 we bought Take Off Jess as a yearling, who then ran second in the All American Futurity.”
Take Off Jess, by Mr Jess Perry and out of First Down Dash daughter Takeoff Royally, earned $380,087 in his sole year on the track, running second in the West Texas Futurity-G1 and second in the All American Futurity-G1. The colt finished the year eighth in earnings.
“Joe thought I couldn’t do anything wrong, but I said, ‘Joe, this is luck; you can have the best and have the most money and not do what we’ve done.’”
Partnered with brother Duane and Joann Adams, Jimmy ran Separate Bet (Separatist- Better Bet On Me, First Down Dash). The gray gelding tallied 43-11(5)-8(5)-6(3) and $799,481. He was successful in his first two years of racing, qualifying for the All American Futurity, winning the Rainbow Derby-G1 and
running second in the All American Derby-G1. He also ran in the Champion of Champions-G1 at 5, finishing third. In his fourth year on the track, he won the Eastex Handicap-G2, the Leo Stakes-G2 and the Remington Park Invitational Championship-G1. He took home honors in 2009 as Horse of the Meet at Remington Park and AQHA Supreme Racehorse.
Also, in 2009, Jimmy and Marilyn’s Separatist colt Inseperable, out of First Down Dash daughter A Delightful Legacy, won the Rainbow and the All American derbies and qualified for the Champion of Champions, ending the year as Horse of the Meet at Ruidoso Downs in addition to Champion 3 Year Old and Champion 3-Year-Old Colt.
But Inseperable almost didn’t make the Harrels’ short list of standout runners. “When they were presenting the [Championship] award to us, they asked me how I selected him,” Jimmy says. “Duane had called me on the way to the sale and told me about his breeding, so
92 SPEEDHORSE January 2021
THE RACING CIRCLE
“We’ve had the good fortune to be involved with a tremendous number of good people in the industry.” - Jimmy Harrel