By Andrea Caudill

AQHA RACING—OCTOBER 23, 2019— Sallisaw, Oklahoma-based trainer Jordan Baumann will saddle two horses during the Bank of America Challenge Championships on October 26 at The Downs at Albuquerque.

One is his own distance runner, Ms Esther, who will contest the $100,000 Cox Ranch Distance Challenge Championship (G1).

The other is the 3-year-old Charlies Fury, who will race in the $150,000 Adequan® Derby Challenge Championship (G1).

Baumann has owned Ms Esther for about a year now, and trained her before then.

The 5-year-old mare is by the Thoroughbred Afrashad, a speedy son of Smoke Glacken, and she is out of the Tres Seis mare Tres Down The Cash, herself a Grade 2-placed runner in her racing career.

Ms Esther was bred by Duwayne and Janice Pfeifle of Hydro, Oklahoma.

She hasn't been worse than third in six races this year, pulling in $86,982 to add to her career earnings of $123,140.

At Remington Park, she won the Pauls Valley Stakes (G2), then the Cox Ranch Remington Distance Challenge (G3) and was third behind Madewell in the Remington Park Distance Championship (G2) after a poor break.

She rested over the summer, and returned to win the Cox Ranch Will Rogers Distance Challenge a month ago.

"Ms Esther, she's doing good," Baumann said. "I figured if she won (at Remington), she'd have a good shot out here."

Charlies Fury is owned by his breeders, Tom and Kathleen McNally of Guthrie, Oklahoma.

The sorrel son of Furyofthewind is out of the Take Off Jess mare Jess Charlena.

He qualified to the Black Gold 350 Championship Futurity as a 2-year-old, and then this spring lit the board in third in the Heritage Place Derby (G3). He then won the Adequan® Will Rogers Derby Challenge with ease last month, setting him up for the Challenge Championships. He was trained in Oklahoma by Michelle Hurdle, and has a career record of four wins from 10 starts and earnings of $163,587.

"He's a pretty nice horse," Baumann said of the chipper sophomore. "He's a (big) baby. He loves attention."

"Both of them really like it out here," Baumann added.

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