Heidi Gunderson had high hopes for Wonder If I’m Lucky (“Casey”), owned by her good friend Shannon Kulseth. She had even suggested that Kulseth try to find a slot to buy for the OKC Futurity in December.
After Casey’s first pass through the timers at the Lazy E Arena, she was glad that Kulseth hadn’t bought a slot.
“He spooked at the first barrel, got scared of the people in the chair at the second barrel, hit it, got scared of the people in the chair at the third barrel… I was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ We had showcased him a couple of times back home and he clocked really well, but he was so spooky and scared at the BFA. I thought I’m going to have to send him a lot harder, so he quits looking at things.”
Gunderson’s game plan worked. Although Casey looked around a little at the first barrel on the first run, their 15.540 placed seventh in the round. They came back with a 15.284, the fastest run by a 3-year-old, to win the second round and the aggregate for the 315-entry, $50,000-added BFA Juvenile.
“It really was a dream come true,” said Gunderson. “The best trainers and horses in the country are there. You go and you just want your colts to have a good showing, and to win it… I honestly feel like it was a gift from God. I know the horse had the ability, but you’re competing against so many good horses and good trainers… I’m just in shock.”
Kulseth purchased Casey as a coming 2-year-old for $14,000 at the 2022 OKC Futurity Sale. Bred by Stephanie Langford-Cleveland, the Lucky Wonder Horse gelding was out of TS Sunnys Superstar, by PC Mr Sun Peppy.
“She was like, ‘Oh, should I buy this one? Do you have room to take him home?’ I said, ‘Sure.’ We’ve had him ever since. The funny thing is, Shannon forgot at times that he was even here. She had six horses here at one time and she literally said once, ‘Oh, I forgot about him.’ We joke and tease that he’s the forgotten horse to be forgotten no more!” laughed Gunderson.
Gunderson’s husband Mark started Casey under saddle.
“We’ve loved him the entire time,” she said. “He was super easy to train and moved his feet right. He’s willing. He’s never been a horse that anything was difficult for him. It was easy to teach him.”
The only hole in Casey was his spooky nature away from home.
“I hauled him a lot this summer just to get him exposed because he was so spooky,” she said. “I brought him to as many places as I could because the first time I took him somewhere, he ran as hard as he could in the opposite direction from everything!”
Knowingly, Gunderson took the opportunity to get Casey to the BFA during the first weekend for the ride time and Open races.
“I thought I just needed to get him in the pen as much as I could. That’s his only thing. He’s looky and watchy. I thought I needed to get up there and get him in the pen.”
Her efforts paid off handsomely with a $20,495 Juvenile Championship and $2,000 in Future Fortunes bonus money.
“We knew he was nice, but this was something none of us predicted,” she said. “He’s obviously nicer than we even could have thought.”
Gunderson said Casey will likely have a light schedule during the winter months since she lives in Murdock, Minnesota.
“You only get a chance at horses like this every once in a while,” she said. “I want to give him all the chances that I can give him, but I do live in Minnesota. I do have a son in high school and a teaching job—I teach online so I can work wherever I am—but my kids are wrestlers, and I don’t want to miss their seasons. After Oklahoma City, we’ll sit down and decide where we want to take him. I, for sure, am going to go in April and do the Diamond Classic and Ruby. Wrestling season through the first weekend in March is pretty intense in our household. There’s a lot of futurity season from March on.”
By Tanya Randall source BarrelRacingReport.com 11/26/24