D. Wayne Lukas

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D. Wayne Lukas
Breeders' Cup Distaff
(1985, 1986, 1987, 2000)
Breeders' Cup Classic

(1999)
Grade 1 Stakes Wins
Racing awards
Serena's Song, Sharp Cat, Southern Halo, Spain, Star of Cozzene, Tamarisk, Terlingua, Thunder Gulch, Titletown Five, Will Take Charge, Winning Colors
,

Darrell Wayne Lukas (September 2, 1935 – June 28, 2025) was an American horse trainer and a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee. He won twenty Breeders' Cup races, received five Eclipse Awards for his accomplishments, and his horses won 25 year-end Eclipse Awards. Lukas was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2007.

Early life and education

Lukas was born on September 2, 1935, in Antigo, Wisconsin, where his parents had a farm. He grew up with an interest in horses.[3] As an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he was initiated into the Kappa Sigma fraternity.[4] He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a master's degree in education, then taught at Logan High School in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he was a head basketball coach.[3]

Career

Lukas began training quarter horses in California in 1968 and after 10 years of achievement that saw him train 24 world champions, he switched to training thoroughbreds. His first win as a thoroughbred trainer was on October 20, 1977, at Santa Anita Park.[5] The first trainer to earn more than $100 million in purse money, he was the year's top money winner 14 times.[6][7] He earned purses of more than $300 million during his career.[3]

Lukas first gained major attention in 1980 when he won the

Classics in 1995 with Thunder Gulch (Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes) and Timber Country (Preakness), making him the first trainer to sweep the Triple Crown Classic races with two different horses in a season.[7] In 2013, he surpassed Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons for the most Triple Crown race victories, with 14.[3] In 2024, the 88-year-old Lukas broke Fitzsimmons' record as the oldest trainer to win a Triple Crown race when Seize the Grey won the 2024 Preakness Stakes; it was the fifteenth time he won a Triple Crown race and the seventh time he won the Preakness Stakes.[8]

He won

Eclipse Awards.[2] He won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer four times. In 1999, the same year his horse Charismatic came within two lengths of the Triple Crown, he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2007,[10] becoming the first person to enter both the Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse Halls of Fame. In 2013, he was awarded the Eclipse Award of Merit for his accomplishments.[2] In 1988, Lukas received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Gene Klein.[11]

Lukas earned criticism for his training and racing methods and the resulting attrition rate of his horses.[3][12]

In 2014, at age 78, in his acceptance speech for the 2013 Eclipse Award of Merit, he stated, "[when they start giving you awards ... they are trying to get you to retire. Well, you young trainers get ready because I'm not retiring. We're coming after you so you'd better get up a little more early in the morning from now on. We're coming after you with a vengeance."[2]

Lukas's 4,953rd and final thoroughbred winner was Tour Player, who won at Churchill Downs on June 12, 2025.[7]

Personal life

Lukas married five times.

brain damage and had changes in personality, vision loss, and damage to his memory. By spring of 1994, he had recovered enough to attempt a return to horse racing, but after a series of less-demanding jobs ending in 2003, it was clear that he could not work safely around racehorses. He also tried living and working near horse farms, but his disabilities were too severe for him to be safe around horses. He ultimately moved to Atoka, Oklahoma in 2007 to work for David Burrage, who had been the accountant and general manager for Lukas Racing Stables. By that time, Burrage was a banker and owned the First Bank in Atoka, which employed Lukas. His father bought him a home there, and Jeff lived a quiet life until his death at age 58 in March 2016.[14][15]

Illness and death

Lukas contracted COVID-19 in 2020 but recovered from the illness.[16]

On June 22, 2025, Lukas's family and

hospice care. His thoroughbreds were transferred to his assistant of over 20 years, Sebastian Nicholl.[5][17][7] Lukas died at his home in Louisville, Kentucky, on June 28, 2025, at the age of 89.[18][19]

Thoroughbreds trained with major wins

Kentucky Derby
Preakness Stakes
Belmont Stakes
Breeders' Cup Classic
Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic
Breeders' Cup Mile
Breeders' Cup Sprint
Breeders' Cup Juvenile
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj "Trainer Profile: D. Wayne Lukas". Equibase. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d "Eclipse Night Filled with Repeat Winners". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  3. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  4. ^ Milbert, Neil (October 20, 2002). "It's the ride of his life: Meet horse trainer D. Wayne Lukas". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on June 26, 2025. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Williams, James H. (June 22, 2025). "Horse racing trainer D. Wayne Lukas in hospice care after hospitalization". USA Today. Archived from the original on June 23, 2025. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  6. ^ Angst, Frank (June 29, 2025). "Industry-Shaping Horseman Lukas Dies at Age 89". The Blood-Horse. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g "Legendary Hall of Fame Trainer D. Wayne Lukas Hospitalized; Horses Transferred to Veteran Assistant Sebastian 'Bas' Nicholl". Churchill Downs. June 22, 2025. Archived from the original on June 23, 2025. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  8. ^ Wolken, Dan (May 18, 2024). "D. Wayne Lukas isn't going anywhere. At 88, trainer just won his 15th Triple Crown race". USA Today. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2024.
  9. ^ Anderson, Ashley (November 2, 2020). "Breeders' Cup by the numbers". TwinSpires.com. Retrieved July 5, 2025. 20 The number of Breeders' Cup races won by trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Bob Baffert and Chad Brown are the closest to Lukas's record, with 15 wins each.
  10. ^ "American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame: D. Wayne Lukas". American Quarter Horse Association. Archived from the original on September 27, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  11. American Academy of Achievement. Archived
    from the original on June 8, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  12. ^ Forde, Pat (June 24, 2025). "D. Wayne Lukas Didn't Just Train Horses—He Changed the Game". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  13. ^ Layden, Tim (May 19, 2024). "Still training, still winning, 88-year-old D. Wayne Lukas does it again at Preakness". NBC Sports. Archived from the original on May 22, 2025. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  14. ^ Mitchell, Eric (March 24, 2016). "Jeff Lukas Remembered". The Blood-Horse. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  15. ^ Layden, Tim (November 4, 2013). "The Second Life of Jeff Lukas". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  16. ^ "Trainer D. Wayne Lukas back at work at Churchill Downs after battling COVID-19". ESPN. Associated Press. August 31, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  17. ^ "Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas has been hospitalized and will not return to training, family says". Associated Press. June 22, 2025. Archived from the original on June 22, 2025. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  18. AP News
    . Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  19. The Courier-Journal
    . Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  20. ^ Crosby, Claire (April 2, 2013). "BC Juvenile Fillies Star Twilight Ridge Dies". The Blood-Horse. Archived from the original on May 19, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
  21. ^ "Champion Flanders Euthanized". The Blood-Horse. March 2, 2010. Archived from the original on May 17, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2013.

Further reading

  • DeVito, Carlo (2002). D. Wayne: The High-Rolling and Fast Times of America's Premier Horse Trainer. McGraw-Hill.
    ISBN 0-07-138737-4
    .
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