Under the name MWG he bought the multi-rated mare Ava’s Grace (Hip 126), pregnant with two-time Horse of the Year. Curl for $950,000 and then went to $625,000 for her In mischief filly (hip 127).
“This is the package that we identified in Texas that we wanted,” Gunderson said. “You’re dealing with a high-stakes horse with an Into Mischief on the ground, and we’re pregnant with Curlin again. You can’t let sales determine the quality of the horse. That’s about as good as we buy. So we thought we better try to come and see if we could get it.”
Ava’s Grace, an 8-year-old mare by Laoban (Uncle Mo), was rated 2-4 stakes and earned nearly $360,000 on the track. She has strong black type credentials and is a half-sister to stakes winner Ichiban, according to the prolific Street feeling . In addition to her yearling filly (Hip 127), she also has a 2-year-old colt by Into Mischief named Mischief to Grace.
“He turned up here and bought what were probably our two top offers at this auction, a high-quality, high-stakes mare, in foal to Curlin, and which I think was widely believed to be the best foal in the Into Mischief filly sale,” said Jes Sikura, director of Hill ‘n’ Dale.
“We’re happy to see Marc, (farm manager) Rob (Brennan), his son Will and the rest of the Twin Oaks team adding some more quality to their operation; we’re happy to be friends and partners with them. They’ve really stepped up and bought a lot of nice horses lately, so it was exciting for us to add these two to their collection.”
Gunderson said he expected to pay a little less for Ava’s Grace and given the stud fee this year to breed back to Curlin or Into Mischief, he will probably spend a few hundred thousand more than expected. But he’s not worried about it.
“If you let $200,000 interfere with a $2 million purchase, you probably shouldn’t be in the market right now,” he said.
Gunderson owns a farm near Paris, Kentucky, which he recently purchased and plans to grow into a premier breeding and racing operation. Will Gunderson handles all the mating for the family’s broodmare band and Brennan focuses on evaluating physical attributes for new purchases.
“This package here (Ava’s Grace and her filly) was all done with the three of us on the phone, and we realized it was a highlight,” Gunderson said.
“We just try to do it the way we want to do it,” he explained. “We don’t have commercialized opportunities yet. Do we feel like we have the equity that other people want? Ultimately, we do. So we could very easily go into the sell side, but it takes additional ownership. We’re trying to acquire real estate like we’re sitting here today.”
“And so our farm will definitely grow. It’s something that we wanted to do as a family business, and we’ve tried to keep all the employees centered around a family concept. Last night we had three babies and my wife was in town. My son is in the business with me, and my daughter-in-law is in the business. Pretty hard to beat yesterday and today, if you put it in an entertainment business, right?”
Jes Sikura and Marc Gunderson
Gunderson, an entrepreneur based in Fort Worth, Texas, has long been involved in thoroughbred racing and has been racing under the name Twin Oaks Bloodstock since 2023. Last year 40% of the starters achieved a win or place in the stable, and this weekend started Miss Authentic in the Bayakoa Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park. The race was the four-year-old filly’s first start.
“We got on a plane from Arkansas yesterday after seeing a graded stakes race, flew out here, looked at some babies and bought a few horses. Next Saturday we have some graded stakes races in Miami, we’re flying out there; the grandkids love it,” Gunderson said.
He added that the Sikura family played an important role in ensuring his business got off to the right start.
‘Our farms are just across the street. I mean, if John or Jes ever wake up and tell me I’m not the best neighbor, we’re in trouble,” he said with a smile. “But until that day, it’s fun, and as long as we can keep it that way, we’ll be there.”
Gunderson has been among the top buyers at almost every sale over the past six months, securing 64 head including weanlings, yearlings, broodmares and broodmares for gross proceeds of $19,146,000 ahead of the Fasig-Tipton Winter Sale.
Near the end of the Winter Mixed Sale, Gunderson also purchased Heavenly View (Hip 384), a 13-year-old broodmare from Congrats for $90,000. She is out of the Tabasco Cat mare Heavenly Cat, who is the dam of seven winners, five of which are black-type performers, including multiple stakes winner and millionaire Mr. Freeze.
Heavenly View was listed as not pregnant by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent. She is the dam of two winners, including stakes winner Heaven Street (Street Sense).
Gunderson’s three purchases during the Winter Mixed Sale totaled $1,665,000.
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