D. Wayne Lukas, the Hall of Fame trainer whose passion for perfection forever changed the sport of thoroughbred horse racing, has died, the Lukas family said in a statement issued Sunday by Churchill Downs. Lukas was 89.
The family statement, addressed to the Racing Community, began “It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of our beloved husband, grandfather, and great-grandfather, D. Wayne Lukas, who left this world peacefully yesterday evening (June 28) at the age of 89, surrounded by family.”
Lukas had been hospitalized last week as he battled a severe infection that worsened his condition. He declined an aggressive treatment plan and returned and spent his remaining time with family.
Born Darrell Wayne Lukas in Antigo, Wisconsin, on September 2, 1935, Lukas grew up on a farm and later attended the University of Wisconsin. After graduating, he spent six years coaching high school basketball and, in 1967, made the life-changing decision to turn his hand to training horses. Initially, he focused on quarter horses, developing 24 champions, before taking on thoroughbreds in the mid-1970s.
His approach was, at the time, radical. Figuring that the wealthy owners he successfully courted would prefer to see their multi-million horses housed as such, Lukas banished fly-ridden manure piles, dirty leg wraps hanging on homemade clotheslines, and unkempt patches of weeds and vines around the barn and instead insisted on stables painted in his signature green-and-white, hanging baskets filled with flowers along the shed row and meticulously manicured grounds.
— Bob Baffert (@BobBaffert) June 29, 2025
Although scoffed at by hardboots who often referred to Lukas as “the basketball coach” – this would later change – his concept paid off handsomely. Backed initially by the deep pockets of Eugene Klein, former owner of the San Diego Chargers, Lukas won his first of four Kentucky Derbys in 1988 with Klein’s filly, Winning Colors. Klein, who had never won a major sports event until then, was awarded racing’s Eclipse award four times as leading owner.
Lukas’s success with Klein brought in owners such as Nelson Bunker Hunt, multimillionaires Bob and Beverly Lewis, and William T. Young, whose company manufactured the peanut butter brand that eventually became Jif after being sold to Procter & Gamble.
From 1985 to 1992, Lukas won more stakes races than any trainer. In 1993, however, his fortunes took a dramatic turn.
Rest in peace, Coach 🌹 pic.twitter.com/27mbfv4w0x
— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) June 29, 2025
With Klein having passed away in 1990, Lukas had fewer well-heeled owners and cheaper horses to work with. One of the more prominent, Young’s Union City, broke down in the 1993 Preakness Stakes. That year, his horses earned $4,125,169, a significant drop from the previous year’s $10,061,240.
It took but a year for Lukas, by sheer force of will, to turn his fortunes around. Tabasco Cat – who had run over Lukas’s son Jeff, resulting in a traumatic brain injury - won the 1994 Preakness and Belmont Stakes, with Thunder Gulch taking the following year’s Derby and Belmont and Timber Country winning the Preakness, giving Lukas six straight wins in the Triple Crown series.
He was awarded the 1994 Eclipse Award as Outstanding Trainer.
Inducted into racing’s Hall of Fame in 1990 at the age of 54, Lukas was far from done. The once derogatory term of “basketball coach” became simply “Coach,” and his endearing habit of picking a child out of the crowd to participate in many of his winner’s circle ceremonies endeared him to many.
Moving forward, Lukas’s pricey aviator sunglasses, $3,000 suits, and 10-gallon white cowboy hats were no longer regarded as affectations, but signature symbols of a man who had set his sights on success and achieved it.
Although time, and age, slowed him down in later years (much to his annoyance, he needed a stepstool to mount his pony in the mornings to watch his horses work out) it seemed as if the Lukas of yore had been resurrected in 2013, when his Oxbow took the Preakness, his first Triple Crown win since the 2000 Belmont with Commendable. Eleven years later, to nearly everyone’s delight, he became the oldest trainer to saddle a winner in a Triple Crown event when Seize the Grey went wire-to-wire to triumph in the Preakness, Lukas’s seventh win in the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.
“It never gets old at this level,” said Lukas after the race.
STATEMENT FROM BREEDERS’ CUP LIMITED ON THE PASSING OF D. WAYNE LUKAS
Along with the Thoroughbred racing community, the team at Breeders’ Cup Limited mourns the passing of Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas.
From the inaugural 1984 running of the Breeders’ Cup World… pic.twitter.com/6waTqos8O7
— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) June 29, 2025
Lukas’s final victory as trainer of record came on June 12, when Tour Player, owned by the wife of rival-turned-friend Bob Baffert, took a $134,000 optional claimer at Churchill Downs.
Racing Community,
It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of our beloved husband, grandfather, and great-grandfather, D. Wayne Lukas, who left this world peacefully yesterday evening at the age of 89, surrounded by family.
Wayne devoted his life not only to horses but to the industry – developing generations of horsemen and horsewomen and growing the game by inviting unsuspecting fans into the winner’s circle. Whether he was boasting about a maiden 2-year-old as the next Kentucky Derby winner or offering quiet words of advice before a big race, Wayne brought heart, grace, and grit to every corner of the sport.
His final days were spent at home in Kentucky, where he chose peace, family, and faith. As we grieve at his passing, we find peace in knowing he is now reunited with his beloved son, Jeff, whose memory he carried in his heart always.
We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of love, prayers, and support from all corners of the racing community — from racetracks across the country to lifelong friends and respected rivals, and from fans who never missed a post parade when ‘Lukas’ was listed in the program.
He is survived by his devoted wife, Laurie Lynn Lukas; his grandchildren, Brady Wayne Lukas (Dani) and Kelly Lukas Roy (David); his great-grandchildren, Walker Wayne Lukas, Quinn Palmer Lukas, Jonathan James Roy, and Thomas David Roy; his sister, Dauna Lukas Moths; and his brother, Lowell Lukas. He also leaves behind an extended family of horsemen and horsewomen whose lives he shaped, mentored, and inspired.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Oaklawn or Churchill Backside Chaplaincy or the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance — two causes that Wayne held close to his heart.
A private service will be held with immediate family, with a larger celebration of life to follow. Details will become available at a later date.
With love and gratitude,
The Lukas Family
