Corridor of Fame horse coach D. Wayne Lukas is gravely in poor health and has retired instantly.
The Lukas household issued an announcement Sunday that mentioned the 89-year-old had been hospitalized with a extreme an infection and declined to undergo the “aggressive therapy plan” docs in Louisville, Ky., had outlined.
USA At this time reported Monday that Lukas has returned to his dwelling and is beneath hospice care to spend his remaining days along with his spouse, Laurie, and their prolonged household.
“Wayne is without doubt one of the biggest rivals and most essential figures in Thoroughbred racing historical past,” mentioned Mike Anderson, president of Churchill Downs Racetrack. “He transcended the game of horse racing and took the business to new ranges. The lasting impression of his character and knowledge — from his acute horsemanship to his unmatched consideration to element — shall be really missed. The enormity of this information is immense, and our prayers are along with his household and mates all over the world throughout this tough time.”
The horses educated by Lukas are actually beneath the steering of Sebastian “Bas” Nicholl by way of the succession plan of Lukas Enterprises Inc. Nicholl is the longtime assistant to Lukas.
Lukas-trained horses received 15 Triple Crown races, second solely to Bob Baffert’s 17. His horses posted 20 Breeders’ Cup wins and he received the Eclipse Award because the nation’s high coach 4 instances.
Lukas was enshrined within the Nationwide Museum of Racing and Corridor of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in 1999.
After school, he started his profession as a highschool instructor and basketball coach in Wisconsin, and he took a summer season job working with quarter horses in South Dakota in 1968. 4 years later, he moved to California to change into a full-time coach of quarter horses, and in 1977 at age 42, he obtained his first win as a thoroughbred coach at Santa Anita.
As a throughbred coach, he had 4,967 wins and his horses earned greater than $301 million from 30,607 begins, in accordance with statistics from Churchill Downs.
The ultimate win of his profession got here when 4-year-old colt Tour Participant received at Churchill Downs on June 12. His ultimate Triple Crown victory was on the Preakness Stakes with Seize the Gray in 2024.
Different Triple Crown winners educated by Lukas embrace Tabasco Cat (1994), Thunder Gulch (1995) and Charismatic (1999). He received six consecutive Triple Crown races, beginning with the 1994 Preakness Stakes and working by means of the 1996 Kentucky Derby.
Nicholl mentioned he’ll carry the affect of Lukas with him.
“Wayne constructed a legacy that may by no means be matched,” Nicholl mentioned. “Each choice I make, each horse I saddle, I am going to hear his voice at the back of my thoughts. This is not about filling his sneakers — nobody can — it is about honoring every little thing that he is constructed.”
Whereas horse racing introduced success on the highest stage to Lukas, it additionally gave him his biggest tragedy.
In December 1993, his solely son, Jeff, was at Santa Anita when Tabasco Cat obtained free from his handlers. When 36-year-old Jeff Lukas tried to cease him, Tabasco Cat slammed into him, leaving the youthful Lukas with a extreme mind harm. He returned to work for his father the subsequent summer season however just for a brief time period.
Jeff Lukas died on March 24, 2016, at age 58.
–Area Degree Media
