D. Wayne Lukas

Coming from a culture where most wagering stipulates a fixed dividend, in the startling event that your horse happens to see through his part of the deal, I tend to view the morning line on American races as named for the hangover evidently being suffered by its compiler. Certainly by the time the market has been soberly hydrated with dollars and cents, I won't be expecting anything as close to an even play as the 4-5 listed about Forte (Violence) overcoming the wide draw that appears to introduce his only...

   To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them - Montesquieu In the past, I frequently attended riding instruction clinics of a very sought after Olympic medal winning rider and trainer who opened every session with the following statement (paraphrasing), "I have been doing this my whole life, 50 plus years. I don't consider myself an expert and if I'm not an expert, than you most certainly are not an expert." That statement always received uncomfortable laughs from the participants, most likely connected to their...

On Monday, there will be a seismic shift in horse racing. That's when the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority will launch its Anti-Doping and Medication Control program and, in most states, will take over the responsibilities of drug testing and drug adjudications. With that date right around the corner, the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland brought in HISA's CEO Lisa Lazarus to give an update on what to expect once HISA takes over. Lazarus was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week. Lazarus made it clear...

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas will serve as the keynote speaker at this year's 21st annual Race For Grace May 1, which benefits the Kentucky Race Track Chaplaincy. Held along Millionaires Row in the clubhouse at Churchill Downs, the dinner will include a live auction featuring a box for the 2024 Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby, while a silent auction sports leather halters from last year's Derby participants, horse racing art and other assorted memorabilia. Scott Davenport, Bellarmine University men's basketball coach who led the Knights to the...

On a weekend when we temporarily suspend our search for the adolescent Thoroughbred maturing sufficiently to beat his peers on the first Saturday in May, let's celebrate the fulfilments that remain available later in life--whether on two legs or four.

When it comes to ageing, as the wiseguys remind us, it's when you're over the hill that you begin to pick up speed. And it's true: the magnolia trees where I live are coming into blossom, and I swear that each passing year compresses both the duration of those brief candles and, above all, the intervals in between. The inference is a dismal one: time flies when you've had your fun. So on a weekend when we temporarily suspend our search for the adolescent Thoroughbred maturing sufficiently to beat his...

It's been a memorable few months for trainer-turned-jockey-agent Kiaran McLaughlin. He's been nominated to the Hall of Fame for the first time and, as the agent for Luis Saez, has his client lined up with many of the top horses in the sport, including top candidates for the GI Kentucky Derby in Tapit Trice (Tapit) and Instant Coffee (Bolt d'Oro). With plenty to talk about, McLaughlin joined this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. McLaughlin was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week. McLaughlin was asked his...

Last year's GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Secret Oath (f, 4, Arrogate--Absinthe Minded, by Quiet American) returned to the races in style in Saturday's GII Azeri S. at Oaklawn. The 7-5 second choice raced one from the back rounding the clubhouse turn after exiting from the one hole. Racing under a nice hold down the backstretch, she launched her familiar, wide sweeping move on the far turn, hit the front under confident handling in the stretch and had 2 3/4 lengths to spare over favored MGISW Clairiere (Curlin), last seen just...

A stroll down the 500 block of East Maxwell Street in Lexington, Kentucky brings you to the awninged door of Black Swan Books. If your pursuits are less catholic, then Mike Courtney's seemingly endless maze of heaving shelves can accommodate even the most scrupulous bibliophile of rare Kentuckiana and equine sport culture. Say, you're looking for a past volume on the two-time Horse of the Year Secretariat, then copious choices await. More recent works like William Nack's Secretariat: The Making of a Champion (2002) and Lawrence Scanlan's The Horse That...

Another year is in the books, and it featured the usual combination of good news and bad news. Flightline (Tapit) wowed us, even if it was for just three races. The impossible victory by Rich Strike (Keen Ice) in the GI Kentucky Derby was an unforgettable moment. Then again, the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act went off the rails and the acrimony surrounding it turned even uglier. With more guilty pleas and sentencings during the year, we still haven't been able to fully escape the nightmare that is Servis-Navarro....

Forty years after his first GI Kentucky Oaks win, D. Wayne Lukas relished his fifth appearance in that winner's circle this year alongside a special filly named Secret Oath (Arrogate - Absinthe Minded, by Quiet American). "We've celebrated in that winner's circle a number of times already, but this one was a little bit better though, because when you're an old man you often wonder if you're going to get another one--one of those really special ones," explained Lukas. The Hall of Fame conditioner known as "The Coach" has a...

Willis Horton, an owner and breeder in Thoroughbred racing for decades whose Willis Horton Racing campaigned champions Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song) and Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway), passed away Friday at the age of 82 after a bout with COVID-induced pneumonia. The news was first reported by Daily Racing Form. Originally from Zach, Ark., Horton grew up on a farm and competed in rodeos. His wife of 64 years, Glenda, had a similar upbringing, and the two owned quarter horses before branching out into the world of Thoroughbreds. Horton's...