D. Wayne Lukas

I knew it was coming, but that doesn't dull the sadness. I posted online last week that I was sad about the news D. Wayne Lukas had been put in hospice care and retired from training, but it's complicated to explain why I feel so profoundly sad about the passing of a man that I'd only spoken with a few times briefly in my life. A lot of it has to do with a connection I had with my dad that he unknowingly helped fuel many times over more than...

I can't really remember a time that D. Wayne Lukas wasn't in my life. Beginning with my teenage years, to say that I was a big fan of Wayne's is an epic understatement. As a student that liked to study at night it was highly likely I would take an afternoon siesta. So, I used to tell my mother "If ANYBODY calls, don't wake me. ONLY if it's the Queen of England or D. Wayne Lukas." My mother can corroborate this story. Even though I was a huge fan of...

Hey Boss. I think you saw, but I saddled my 10th winner earlier this week. I know you told me you'd be long dead before I won the Kentucky Derby, but you did get to see me win at Churchill Downs. Every time I saddle a horse, I think about the first time I saddled for you. It was Cold as Hell at Oaklawn Park. I forgot the pommel pad, and you told me to get out of the way, that you'd finish saddling him yourself. I didn't talk back...

In 1990, Frank DeFrancis and I introduced the idea which would become the American Championship Racing Series to D. Wayne Lukas. He had come to Pimlico with some top stakes horses to train post-Derby, as he often did. He won the Pimlico Special that year with eventual Horse of the Year Criminal Type. It was only 10 years since his first Triple Crown win at the 1980 Preakness, but he was now at the top of his profession. At Saratoga later that summer, Wayne and I had a lengthy conversation...

On the day that Kevin Prendergast was remembered at the Curragh in the naming of the International Stakes, and a day after Peter Easterby was laid to rest, another great of the training ranks was lost with the passing of Barry Hills. Then came the news from America that D Wayne Lukas had too departed. To read the tributes paid to these men, who did so much to enrich the colour of this storied sport, is something of a treat in itself - their parting gift, if you like -...

In the Hanshin Stakes at Churchill Downs on Sunday, Will Take It (Tapit) was up in the nick of time to take the race for owners Willis Horton and Mandy Pope. Since coming over from the care of trainer Eddie Milligan, Will Take It has become a mark of consistency. His 2025 campaign has included clearing an allowance condition at Fair Grounds Jan. 4 and a runner-up finish against optional claimers in New Orleans Feb. 1. The colt then won at that level next out at the track Mar. 8...

Following the news of his passing, tributes  to legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas poured in from across the industry Sunday. "A four-time winner of the Kentucky Derby, today we lost one of the great champions of Churchill Downs and one of the most significant figures in Thoroughbred racing over the last 50 years. We will miss his humor, his wisdom and his unmatched capacity to thrill the fans with the performances of his horses on our sport's biggest days." Bill Carstanjen, CEO of Churchill Downs Incorporated "D. Wayne Lukas was...

Those who have been following racing for, oh, 10 years or less, they may not quite understand the impact Wayne Lukas had on horse racing or how much he changed what it meant to be a successful horse trainer. The Wayne Lukas who was still training when his 90th birthday was just around the corner transformed into your favorite uncle or grandfather. He became the sport's elder statesman. There was a sweet and gentle side to the man that everyone started calling "Coach" because he was once a high school...

One of the most iconic personalities in horse racing and a man that helped transform the face of the industry over the past half a century, D. Wayne Lukas passed away at his home in Louisville Saturday night from complications from a severe infection. He was 89. Lukas is survived by wife Laurie, grandchildren Brady Wayne Lukas (Dani) and Kelly Roy (David) and great grandchildren Johnny Roy, Thomas Roy, Walker Wayne Lukas and Quinn Palmer Lukas. A statement from Lukas's family released Sunday, read, "It is with heavy hearts that...

1st-CD, $120K, Msw, 2yo, 5f, 12:45 p.m. ET. The news broke this past week that Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas would be stepping down as the head of his stable because of health reasons and assistant Bas Nicholl would be taking over for the man known to many as 'Coach.' In Saturday's opener on the card, the aptly-named TRACK LEGEND (Charlatan) will be unveiled for owner Live the Legacy with Lukas still listed in the program. Out of Canadian champion female sprinter Moonlit Promise (Malibu Moon), the dark...

However poignant the cue, our collective reflections on the legacy of D. Wayne Lukas will discover much comfort not only in his vital embrace of every moment of a long, fulfilling life but also in the benedictions we can take forward with us. These range from the example he has set us all, in passionate advocacy of our sport, to the more specific conduits of horsemanship he opened in "coaching" Todd Pletcher and so many others. In measuring our gratitude, however, we additionally find ourselves contemplating a curiosity that invites...

I had the profound privilege of serving as an assistant trainer at a barn that holds immense historical significance in horse racing. Every day, I was honored to work alongside a legend, D. Wayne Lukas, whose accomplishments are forever etched in the record books of the sport. As time moved on, even for a tremendous man like D. Wayne, who had reached his eighties, the graded stakes winners didn't come as easily as they did in his most celebrated days. Yet, his confidence remained as unwavering as ever. My journey...