Three quarter horse brothers win big at Canterbury Park for owners Bruce and Judy Lunderborg

If they have a favorite, they aren't saying. Bruce and Judy Lunderborg treat the three quarter horse brothers in their stable as diplomatically as they treat their own kids and grandkids, insisting they are equally proud of each one.

Then again, it's hard to play favorites when all three are overachievers. In Wednesday's Festival of Champions at Canterbury Park, the youngest — Jess Rocket Man — will try to become the third member of the family to win the $50,000 Minnesota Quarter Horse Derby. With four victories in six career races at Canterbury, he's already following in the hoofprints of full brothers Pyc Jess Bite Mydust and Dickey Bob, the two richest Minnesota-bred quarter horses in history.

Horse racing is a game of risk and chance, a sport in which good luck is as critical as good genetics. The Lunderborgs, of Gibbon, Minn., have been blessed with both.

The pairing of their mare Paint Or More with the stallion Apollitical Jess has produced a Minnesota equine dynasty. At age 6, Dickey Bob has $299,276 in career earnings, the most of any state-bred quarter horse. Pyc Jess Bite Mydust, one year older, retired this year as No. 2 on that list with $274,662.

Each of them won the Minnesota Quarter Horse Derby at age 3. As Canterbury celebrates Minnesota-bred horses Wednesday, Jess Rocket Man could give the Lunderborgs their third Derby victory in the past five years, adding to a most unusual family legacy.

"Festival day is always fun,'' said Bruce Lunderborg, who farms near Gibbon. "When you win, it's a lot of fun.

"It's unbelievable what these horses have done. It takes a lot of luck.''

The Lunderborgs got into racing in 2008, when a friend of Bruce's asked if he wanted to buy a racehorse in partnership. He declined. The friend came back a week later with another offer for another horse, and this time, he talked Lunderborg into it.

The horse was a dud, but the couple was hooked on the game. In 2010, they bought Paint Or More, who won three races and $34,013 before an injury ended her brief career. The Lunderborgs bred her to Apollitical Jess, hitting the genetic lottery.

That first foal, Pyc Jess Bite Mydust, was such a good-looking baby that they repeated the mating the following year. Still, the Lunderborgs were contemplating getting out of a costly and difficult sport until Pyc Jess Bite Mydust hit the track as a 2-year-old. He finished in the money in his first four races, including a victory in the $165,600 Mystic Lake Northlands Futurity.

"We decided that was going to be our last year unless the babies ran,'' Judy Lunderborg said. "Needless to say, the babies ran. And here we are.''

The three brothers, trained by Jason Olmstead, all are dark brown with white markings. Yet they are not carbon copies. Pyc Jess Bite Mydust, a sweet-natured horse, excelled at longer distances. The stockier, stronger-willed Dickey Bob is better in shorter races.

The biggest thing they have in common is speed. Pyc Jess Bite Mydust finished out of the money only once in 18 races at Canterbury, while Dickey Bob has won 12 of 19 starts in Shakopee. He beat his big brother in six of those, with the siblings finishing first and second in five of their meetings.

Jess Rocket Man achieved something his brothers did not: winning his trial heat for last summer's $3 million All American Futurity at New Mexico's Ruidoso Downs. He narrowly missed qualifying for the final, and after a slow beginning to the 2021 season, he has three victories and a second in four starts at Canterbury.

Pyc Jess Bite Mydust is training to become a stable pony, which will keep him at the track with his brothers. The family is expanding, too; full brother Averys Rocket began racing this year at age 2, while the Lunderborgs have a yearling full sister and another full sibling due to be born next year.

"Once you get started in racing, you want to win,'' Bruce Lunderborg said. "We just got lucky and found a good combination.''