Page 126 - August 2022

THE BACKSIDE
MARC JUNGERS “It’s a seven day-a-week job. Sometimes
it’s not always about the money.”
by John Moorehouse
HOME BASE: Hempstead, Texas YEARS EXPERIENCE: 7 years full-time
ASSOCIATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS:
Serves on the Texas Horsemen’s Association Board of Directors. Qualified Flash Riley to the All American Derby in 2021.
HOBBIES: “I spend a lot of time with family. We’ll do some fishing. Everything we do is outdoors. Watching my grandkids is pretty good entertainment for me.”
After growing up in the horse industry, Marc Jungers made a strong career in the realm of home building. Then, within a span of about six months, Jungers had both a cousin and a close friend pass away. One
night, Marc and his wife Michelle were having a glass of wine when he brought up a change in careers. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father Cole, and train horses full time.
“I said, life’s too damn short. People were dying around me. That was what I wanted to do,” Jungers recalled.
“My wife, she gave me full support. She probably regrets it now,” Jungers joked.
Today, based out of his facility in Hempstead - the appropriately-named
Jungers Farm, Jungers oversees an operation with about 25 race horses currently in active training, and puts them in competition on the Texas and New Mexico circuits.
In addition to being mentored by his father, Jungers cites Tommie Riley, Don Farris, and Bubba Cascio as influences— among others.
“When you’re a 19-year-old kid, I’m sitting there in California as a groom and I got to work a stable in a barn with Blane Schvaneveldt, Earl Holmes. Those are the cream of the crop, you know? As a young man, being around people like that is pretty impressive.”
Now, let’s learn more about Jungers in the latest installment of our Backside feature.
CAN YOU SHARE WITH US ABOUT MAKING THE TRANSITION TO TRAINING IN 2015?
“I started buying horses back in 2000. I claimed a Thoroughbred and it was just not the game I wanted. We came to Ruidoso, and I partnered with Sandy Farris and we were doing
extremely well. We bought and sold a bunch of horses [when he first started training]. I did it all myself. Dad came out, he’d coach me, I guess you could say. We cleaned the stalls, did everything. I recruited, I hustled, and I got me an owner.”
YOU’RE ONE OF MANY SECOND- GENERATION TRAINERS IN THE INDUSTRY. CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT HOW YOU BROKE IN, WORKING WITH YOUR FATHER?
“Dad primarily trained in the 60’s, and he started out in the Midwest. He ran horses in Illinois, Michigan. Every trainer’s son had to clean stalls and do something. My dad’s theory was, when you’re a teenage kid, you think
you know everything. He told me I needed
to go work for some of the top trainers in the country. I went to work for Tommie Riley. And I worked for John Simmons. I went to work for Don Farris.”
ANY LESSONS LEARNED FROM YOUR TIME IN HOME BUILDING THAT CARRY OVER TO THE RACING WORLD?
“Just business in general. A lot of the
stuff is just about people. I’ve always been
a big believer—I’m not the smartest person around—so I always tried to hire people, whether it’s a salesperson or a construction guy, at the top of their game. That’s what
I’ve done here. I’ve got some people working for me who are pretty amazing. They bust their hump. They take care of their horses. I didn’t have all the money. I just had to go and outwork people.”
tMarc and Michelle Jungers
124 SPEEDHORSE August 2022