Obituary: D. Wayne Lukas

 It was not unexpected, but Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, 89, passed away yesterday after he had declined treatment for suddenly developing an infection that was impossible to overcome otherwise.  His death came just a couple of weeks, if that, following his abrupt retirement from training as a result of the infection.  He went in hospice care and decided he was going out on his own terms.  Lukas had been in the business for nearly sixty years.  He was originally a high school teacher and head basketball coach in Wisconsin (hence the nickname "Coach" used by many of his fans), but he developed a love for horses early in his life.  Beginning in 1968, he began to train quarter horses, and in 1972, as noted in Ray Paulick's linked article, Lukas moved to California.  It took him a while to hit the big time though late in the 1970s he had top horses like Terlingua and Codex (who won the controversial Preakness in 1980).

Lukas with Winning Colors 

It was when he teamed with breeder/owner Eugene V. Klein, who had, among other business interests,  been the owner of the San Diego Chargers football team,  that he made a big splash in thoroughbred racing.  In the 1980s, he and Klein were everywhere, including the Triple Crown races and especially the Breeders' Cup races.  Klein left racing late in the 1980s due to poor health (he died in 1990 at the age of 69), but Lukas continued on, with success after success.

Lukas's horses were immediately recognizable on the track because they always wore white bridles.  That was a trademark of Lukas's.  

From the article:

Lukas passed Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham as the sport’s all-time leading money winner in 1988. He became the first trainer to amass $100 million in career earnings in 1990 and $200 million in 1999.

But there is a mark that might never be broken. In 1994-95, Lukas won a record six-consecutive Triple Crown races: 1994 Preakness (Tabasco Cat), ’94 Belmont (Tabasco Cat), ’95 Kentucky Derby (Thunder Gulch), ’95 Preakness (Timber Country), ’95 Belmont (Thunder Gulch) and ’96 Kentucky Derby (Grindstone). In ’95, he became the first and only trainer to sweep the Triple Crown classics in the same year with different horses. Lukas made it 7-of-8 in Triple Crown classics when Editor’s Note won the ’96 Belmont.

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His last classic winner was Seize the Grey, who won the 2024 Preakness.  Lukas then was 88 years old.

Lukas wasn't immune to tragedy, as his only child, Jeff, who had been his assistant trainer, nearly got killed back in 1993 when one of the Lukas stable's top horses, Tabasco Cat, got spooked and seriously injured Jeff.  He never fully recovered from the accident, and unfortunately he passed away nine years ago.