D. Wayne Lukas is easy to spot before dawn at Churchill Downs. He is one of the few coaches of Kentucky Derby at the top of a stable pony, escorting his horses towards and from the track for their training sessions.
At 89, he is the older man of sport, a temple of fame with four derby victories on a very long currency. On Saturday, he will continue another with an American promise 30-1.
Like the former basketball coach he is, Lukas is not afraid to return the game book. American Promised left the beaten track to win his way to Kentucky with a victory in the Virginia derby. He is a son of the winner of Triple Crown 2018 justify.
“He looks exactly like her,” said Lukas. “He develops very well at the right time.”
The last victory of the Lukas derby took place in 1999 with Charismatic. He has entered 16 horsepower since and finished second in 2002 with a proud citizen. He won the Kentucky OAKS 2022 for the fillies. Last year, he won the Preakness and Pennsylvania derby at $ 1 million.
Since his first test of derby in 1981, Lukas has sought the second largest entrances at 50, only exceeded his protégé, Todd Partcher, who has 65. Plertcher also has a long-term entry on Saturday with large at 20-1.
A promising 3 -year -old child in the barn came on the first Saturday in May can put a spring in the footsteps of any coach. The invigorating Lukas are also the owners with the deep pockets he has after his stock of good horses has dropped.
“Our company in the past six months has just taken off,” he said.
He reminded his customers that he would be 92 years old when the young horses they bought are ready to be trained at the racetrack. He suggested that they may want to limit their purchases or send younger conditioners. They ignored it and bought 18 instead.
Lukas is not a complainant but he told John Bellinger, a promised American co -owner, that his legs were tired.
“It's good, don't worry about it,” said Bellinger. “Do not lose your head.”
Far from there, according to the Jockey of the renowned temple Gary Stevens. He and Lukas joined forces to win the derby in 1988 with winning colors.
“Wayne is known for his meticle with everything he does. It has not changed and it will not change,” said Stevens. “He always goes out every morning. He can still say a good horse. He has a big eye. He chooses all these horses with sales, their angles, their appearance. He still has it at 89. ”
This was obvious during the auction where Lukas spotted the American promise. His old friend and rival Bob Buffe also had his eye on the foal since he had trained the father, justify.
Noticing a bruise above one of the foal of the foal, Baffert thought that it could fly it to $ 400,000.
Not so fast. Promise American sold at $ 750,000.
“I went to see who bought this horse,” said slack. “He was there – the coach.”
While others thought that the foal had a bad knee, the Lukas intestine told him the opposite.
“It was just a bump,” he said. “He fell in a week.”
One of the rare concessions of Lukas at age is the desire to limit his stable to 40 horses, the same number of stands he has in Churchill Downs in the spring and Oaklawn Park in Arkansas in winter.
“We have turned on the red light about it,” he said. “We are now about 52 or 53.”
Lukas said to his fifth wife, Laurie, who, given his age, the couple might want to buy some horses for fun and send them to someone else to train. This plan also went wrong.
“I bought four or five and we now have 11 horsepower,” he said. “We had very beautiful puns.”
In other words, do not expect Lukas to retire to the retirement anytime soon.
“I have always thought that he would have been a big racing commissioner, a big spokesperson because he is so intelligent, speaks well,” said slack. “He knows the ins and outs and he always plays at this high level.”
Lukas and Baffert – which has a six record – have the most victories of all this year's race coaches. Nine of the coaches are in the derby for the first or second time.
“There is no book how,” said Lukas. “These young guys will make mistakes as we have all done. They will all learn, especially in this race.”
