D. Wayne Lukas, the Hall of Famer who became one of the vital achieved trainers within the history of horse racing and a face of the game for a long time, has died. He was 89.
His family said Sunday that Lukas died Saturday night at his Louisville, Kentucky, home.
Lukas had been hospitalized with a severe MRSA blood infection that caused significant damage to his heart and digestive system and worsened pre-existing chronic conditions.
“Wayne devoted his life not only to horses but to the industry — developing generations of horsemen and horsewomen and growing the sport by inviting unsuspecting fans into the winner’s circle,” his family said in a press release. “Whether he was boasting a couple of maiden 2-year-old as the subsequent Kentucky Derby winner or offering quiet words of recommendation before an enormous race, Wayne brought heart, grace, and grit to each corner of the game. His final days were spent at home in Kentucky, where he selected peace, family, and faith.”
Lukas won 15 Triple Crown races, including the Kentucky Derby 4 times. Only good friend Bob Baffert has more Triple Crown victories, and Lukas owns a record-tying 20 within the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
“The entire secret of this game, I feel, is with the ability to read the horse: Read what he needs, what he doesn’t need, what he can’t do, what he can do,” Lukas said in May before his thirty fourth and final Preakness Stakes. “That’s the entire key. Everybody’s got the blacksmith, everybody’s got to the identical bed available, the feed man. All of us can hire an excellent jockey. All of us can hire a fairly good exercise rider if we’ve got the means, so what the hell is the difference? The horse is the difference and what we do with him in reading him.”
Lukas was affectionately known across the barns and the racetrack as “Coach” because he coached highschool basketball before his skilled profession with horses began. Even with months to go before his ninetieth birthday, he would stand up on his pony within the early morning hours and exit to the track himself, slightly than letting his assistants do the day-to-day work.
Born Darnell Wayne Lukas on Sept. 2, 1935, in Wisconsin because the second of three children, he rose to prominence in the game with quarter horses in races which might be effectively sprints. He moved into thoroughbreds within the late Seventies and won his first Preakness with Codex in 1980.
Lukas has 4,967 documented victories in thoroughbred racing, along with his horses earning greater than $310 million from greater than 30,600 starts.
“Today we lost one among the nice champions of Churchill Downs and one of the vital significant figures in Thoroughbred racing over the past 50 years,” Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen said. “We are going to miss his humor, his wisdom and his unmatched capability to thrill the fans with the performances of his horses on our sport’s biggest days.”
Horse Racing Kentucky Oaks, Mark Abraham/UPI/Shutterstock
Achieving something of a profession renaissance over the past decade, one he credits to finding the appropriate owners willing to spend money on horses, Lukas won the Preakness last yr with Seize the Grey. Asked what motivates him to maintain doing his job well into his late 80s, he gave a pep talk fit for a locker room before an enormous game.
“If you may have a passion, you eliminate all the justifications,” Lukas said. “That’s how it really works. You stand up early. You go with no meal. You drive. You go without sleep — so long as you bought the fervour. Don’t let that sofa pull you down. It’s somewhat easy when that alarm goes off to say, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know if I actually need to do that today.’ Erase that. A very powerful decision you’ll ever make in your life is your attitude decision. Make it early, and make the appropriate one.”
D. Wayne Lukas, the Hall of Famer who became one of the vital achieved trainers within the history of horse racing and a face of the game for a long time, has died. He was 89.
His family said Sunday that Lukas died Saturday night at his Louisville, Kentucky, home.
Lukas had been hospitalized with a severe MRSA blood infection that caused significant damage to his heart and digestive system and worsened pre-existing chronic conditions.
“Wayne devoted his life not only to horses but to the industry — developing generations of horsemen and horsewomen and growing the sport by inviting unsuspecting fans into the winner’s circle,” his family said in a press release. “Whether he was boasting a couple of maiden 2-year-old as the subsequent Kentucky Derby winner or offering quiet words of recommendation before an enormous race, Wayne brought heart, grace, and grit to each corner of the game. His final days were spent at home in Kentucky, where he selected peace, family, and faith.”
Lukas won 15 Triple Crown races, including the Kentucky Derby 4 times. Only good friend Bob Baffert has more Triple Crown victories, and Lukas owns a record-tying 20 within the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
“The entire secret of this game, I feel, is with the ability to read the horse: Read what he needs, what he doesn’t need, what he can’t do, what he can do,” Lukas said in May before his thirty fourth and final Preakness Stakes. “That’s the entire key. Everybody’s got the blacksmith, everybody’s got to the identical bed available, the feed man. All of us can hire an excellent jockey. All of us can hire a fairly good exercise rider if we’ve got the means, so what the hell is the difference? The horse is the difference and what we do with him in reading him.”
Lukas was affectionately known across the barns and the racetrack as “Coach” because he coached highschool basketball before his skilled profession with horses began. Even with months to go before his ninetieth birthday, he would stand up on his pony within the early morning hours and exit to the track himself, slightly than letting his assistants do the day-to-day work.
Born Darnell Wayne Lukas on Sept. 2, 1935, in Wisconsin because the second of three children, he rose to prominence in the game with quarter horses in races which might be effectively sprints. He moved into thoroughbreds within the late Seventies and won his first Preakness with Codex in 1980.
Lukas has 4,967 documented victories in thoroughbred racing, along with his horses earning greater than $310 million from greater than 30,600 starts.
“Today we lost one among the nice champions of Churchill Downs and one of the vital significant figures in Thoroughbred racing over the past 50 years,” Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen said. “We are going to miss his humor, his wisdom and his unmatched capability to thrill the fans with the performances of his horses on our sport’s biggest days.”
Horse Racing Kentucky Oaks, Mark Abraham/UPI/Shutterstock
Achieving something of a profession renaissance over the past decade, one he credits to finding the appropriate owners willing to spend money on horses, Lukas won the Preakness last yr with Seize the Grey. Asked what motivates him to maintain doing his job well into his late 80s, he gave a pep talk fit for a locker room before an enormous game.
“If you may have a passion, you eliminate all the justifications,” Lukas said. “That’s how it really works. You stand up early. You go with no meal. You drive. You go without sleep — so long as you bought the fervour. Don’t let that sofa pull you down. It’s somewhat easy when that alarm goes off to say, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know if I actually need to do that today.’ Erase that. A very powerful decision you’ll ever make in your life is your attitude decision. Make it early, and make the appropriate one.”
