When there are conversations in horse racing that point out one for the ages, the one is unquestionably coach D. Wayne Lukas.
Forty-four years since he ran his first horse within the Preakness Stakes — and received with Codex — the energetic 88-year-old is again at Pimlico Race Course, concentrating on the center jewel of the Triple Crown with not one however two entrants in Simply Metal and Seize the Gray.
Each could also be 15-1 longshots, however the truth that somebody in his late 80s has produced Grade 1-placed and Grade 2 profitable 3-year-olds will make them sentimental favorites on the very least for the Could 18 traditional.
“I take pleasure in coaching horses, and you probably have a ardour for one thing, you get rid of all the justifications for not doing it,” Lukas mentioned.
Clearly age is only a quantity for Lukas, who final received the Preakness — his sixth — when he was a mere 77. Eleven years later, he might transfer a bit extra slowly with the assistance of a strolling stick, however in some regards, he’s simply as sharp and spry as he was many years in the past when he first turned eligible for Social Safety.
“I trip 4 to 5 hours a day on my horse. I by no means miss a day and I’ll be 89 on Sept. 2,” mentioned Lukas, a 1998 Corridor of Famer who has 4,929 wins by way of Could 13 and is fifth all-time in purse earnings with $295.5 million. “Some days that alarm clock pulls so exhausting within the morning, however I take pleasure in what I’m doing a lot. I’m fairly aggressive by nature and I believe I would like one thing like this. If I wasn’t doing this, I don’t know what I might do. I might not be content material.”
Lukas offered the feel-good story on the 2022 Preakness, when he introduced Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath to Pimlico for a fourth-place end in opposition to males. Whereas Secret Oath, a $2.4 million earner, made Lukas related once more together with his first Grade 1 win in 5 years, 2024 has been an much more profitable yr for his 40-horse steady.
For Lukas, who rewrote the American file ebook for stakes wins and earnings within the Nineteen Eighties and Nineties, this yr has produced his finest set of leads to many years. Making a case that the Fountain of Youth Stakes ought to be named after him, Lukas has received 16 of 113 begins by way of Could 13 with earnings of $2,649,425, a career-best $23,446 per begin.
Past that, his 14% win charge is his finest since 2002. His horses have been within the cash 43% of the time, his prime determine since 1998, when he additionally compiled a 43% mark.
And he’s 88 years younger, which warms the center of his pal and fellow Corridor of Famer, coach Bob Baffert.
“I’m in awe of him, what he’s doing. And he’s nonetheless very aggressive. And I take pleasure in speaking to him, as a result of he’s so educated. I’ve all the time advised him that the rationale he was so profitable, he’s so overqualified to be a horse coach. And he’s obtained a grasp’s or no matter, he’s a coach, and that’s why he’s been so profitable,” mentioned Baffert, who will ship out Muth, the 8-5 favourite, and Creativeness within the Preakness.
“However he’s actually been an inspiration. I imply, once I obtained within the Thoroughbred enterprise, he was the bar. In any sport, there’s the bar. When you’re a quarterback, you wish to be Tom Brady. And to me, [Lukas] was all the time the bar. He’s nonetheless the bar for me.”
Reflective of the improved general depth of his steady, Lukas introduced seven horses to Pimlico for the three days of racing. Included within the combine is Lemon Muffin, a Grade 3 winner entered within the Could 17 George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes for 3-year-old fillies who was eighth within the Longines Kentucky Oaks.
As Lukas sees it, including house owners prepared to spend one million {dollars} or near it on the gross sales sparked his renaissance.
“The factor about it’s that you’re solely as robust as your clientele,” Lukas mentioned. “We had a really, very robust meet at Oaklawn Park [10th in the standings with 16 wins] with these profitable purses. It’s been an actual good yr. Now if we will prime it off with a Preakness win, it will be nice.”
Seize the Gray, winner of the Pat Day Mile Stakes Introduced by SAP on the Kentucky Derby undercard, is owned by MyRacehorse, which has put the octogenarian into the fashionable world of microshare racing with a whole lot of householders.
“They’ve completed a phenomenal job of conserving all of the folks at bay,” Lukas mentioned concerning the MyRacehorse administration crew. “However the persons are very conscious of what we’re doing. I run into them at a restaurant and other people will inform me they’ve a chunk of my horse. He’s shopped up fairly good.”
John Bellinger and Brian Coelho of BC Stables and Harry Schmueckle personal Simply Metal, runner-up to Muth within the Arkansas Derby earlier than chasing a quick tempo and fading to seventeenth within the Kentucky Derby. They replicate Lukas’ free-spending house owners. The son of Triple Crown winner Justify price $500,000 on the 2022 Keeneland September yearling sale.
“Our complete program is geared towards these sort of races: the Triple Crown, the Breeders’ Cup, and so forth. That’s the place our emphasis is on a regular basis. We purchase horses that we really feel match that mould and I attempt to develop them and attempt to get them there,” Lukas mentioned. “John and Brian have made a severe dedication. So, to get them to the Derby and Preakness is de facto nice for them. I’ve been there. I’ve completed it. I’ve skilled it and felt it. I’m attempting to place them there.”
Lukas purchased Bourbon Bash in 2021 for $280,000 for BC and he has earned $510,294. On the flip aspect, they paid $1,150,000 for Twister Highway, a 3-year-old son of High quality Highway, who’s winless in six begins.
BC additionally owns Each day Grind, a $1,350,000 purchase at The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton’s New York Sale of Most well-liked Yearlings. The son of Medaglia d’Oro is a maiden after 9 begins however was second in his final two and is entered in Saturday’s Sir Barton Stakes for 3-year-olds on the Preakness undercard.
“He could also be a maiden, however the race is mainly for non-winners of two, so we’ll take a shot,” Lukas mentioned.
Lukas additionally speaks extremely of a gaggle of 2-year-olds owned by BC and says he’s keen to look at them subsequent spring and fall once they mature into 3-year-olds. Sure, that’s proper. On the age of 88, when most elder statesmen take into account tomorrow the longer term, D. Wayne Lukas is speaking concerning the far-off days when he’ll be 90.
He’s certainly one for the ages.
