He was a farm boy with a relentless work ethic and a passion for horses. D. Wayne Lukas, the kid from Antigo, Wisconsin, a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, went on to transform racing.
On Sunday (June 29), the Lukas family announced that the Hall of Fame trainer died the night before after spending his final days at home. He was 89.
Optimism, attention to detail and willingness to take risks were this maverick’s strengths. In a sport weighed down by tradition, he thought outside the box. After training 23 champion quarter horses, Lukas revolutionized thoroughbred racing after taking it up full time in 1977 at age 42.
He was the first to stable divisions at different tracks and fly his best runners around the country to dominate stakes races. “Wayne off the plane” was a mantra for horseplayers who loved to bet on his new arrivals.
“So many things have changed in our industry because of Wayne Lukas,” said Mark Hennig, one of his many assistants who succeeded on his own. “He showed us that any race is just one flight away.”
Reading Lukas’ list of achievements can give you eye strain: four wins in the Kentucky Derby, seven in the Preakness, four in the Belmont Stakes; five Kentucky Oaks; 20 Breeders’ Cup trophies; 26 Eclipse Award champions; three Horses of the Year, and plaques in the quarter horse Hall of Fame and thoroughbred Hall of Fame.
Todd Pletcher, whom Lukas called “my adopted son,” is the most distinguished protégé of “The Coach.” Pletcher has won hundreds of major stakes, including two Derbies and four Belmonts, and is the all-time earnings leader.
“Racing as a rule is very tradition-minded and slow to accept change,” Pletcher said. “Wayne has a flair for the way he does things. He thinks creatively.”
Lukas was King of the World in the Eighties and Nineties, when he earned 12 of his 15 Triple Crown trophies. He swept six consecutive classics – Tabasco Cat (1994 Preakness, Belmont); Thunder Gulch (1995 Derby, Belmont); Timber Country (1995 Preakness); Grindstone (1996 Derby). That won’t happen again.
Going against the grain ruffles feathers, and besides praise for unprecedented success, Lukas was a target for critics. He spent so lavishly on well-bred yearlings that his longtime owner Eugene Klein said, “There’s no multimillionaire’s credit card that Lukas can’t max out.”
Many of his megabucks buys didn’t pan out. His third-place finisher in the 1996 Derby was called Prince of Thieves, and jockey Jerry Bailey joked that he thought the colt was named for Lukas.
He was ripped for running horses who clearly had lost their form. He was vilified for Union City’s fatal breakdown in the 1993 Preakness. Late that year his only child and top assistant, Jeff, suffered permanent brain damage after a 2-year-old colt slammed into him on Santa Anita’s backstretch. That horse was Tabasco Cat, and Wayne trained him to win the Preakness and Belmont. Jeff never fully recovered and was 58 when he died of a heart attack in 2016.
“It hasn’t always been blue skies and clear sailing in my career,” Lukas said in his 1999 Hall of Fame acceptance speech. “I’ve been solidly criticized by certain people in the media and in the industry who don’t always agree with what we do. But I make no apologies for what we’ve tried to do.
“It’s my nature to push the envelope every time.”
Starting in 2000, Lukas won a Belmont and five Breeders’ Cup races, impressive achievements but nothing close to his glory days. Gradually he slipped out of the spotlight and into the role of elder statesman. The media lapped up his folksy wisdom and sharp wit.
He’d become a nonfactor in the classics, which changed in 2013, when at 77 Lukas saddled Preakness longshot Oxbow, who led all the way. Wins in the 2022 Kentucky Oaks (Secret Oath) and 2024 Preakness (Seize the Grey) were other feel-good moments celebrated widely. The titan who once ruled American racing had become a fan favorite.
The announcement on June 22 that Lukas was entering home hospice care jolted and saddened the sport he loved. Tributes poured in from everywhere.
“He’s been the face of racing for as long as I can remember,” Pletcher told bloodhorse.com. “His achievements are unparalleled. He had a phenomenal influence on many trainers and the breeding industry. I don’t think anyone has changed the game the way that he has.”
To trainer Kenny McPeek, a winner of all three classics: “He’s a guy I idolized for decades. He is very much a friend and father figure. He raised the bar as high as anybody has ever raised it.
“He’s a great man.”
Father Time is undefeated, but for nearly 90 years the old cowboy gave him a great fight, going 15 rounds before riding off into the sunset on his stable pony. Lukas’ horses were transferred to his longtime assistant Sebastian Nicholl.
“Wayne built a legacy that will never be matched,” Nicholl said. “This isn’t about filling his shoes – no one can – it’s about honoring everything that he’s built.”
He’s gone, but not really. He’s an immortal.
