Legendary Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas dies at age 89

D. Wayne Lukas, whose dominance of Triple Crown races and success in the Breeders’ Cup made him the face of U.S. Thoroughbred racing through the peak of his career in the ’80s and ’90s, died Saturday evening in Louisville, Ky., at age 89.

His passing was confirmed in a message sent by his family Sunday through Churchill Downs.

“It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of our beloved husband, grandfather and great-grandfather D. Wayne Lukas, who left this world peacefully yesterday evening at the age of 89, surrounded by family,” the statement said.

Flatter: Remembering very early call to meet Lukas.

Lukas’s death came six days after it was disclosed he had suffered an aggressive staph infection that forced him into immediate retirement. Faced with damage to his heart and other vital organs, Lukas chose home hospice rather than a series of surgeries.

“His final days were spent at home in Kentucky, where he chose peace, family and faith,” the Lukas family said. “As we grieve at his passing, we find peace in knowing he is now reunited with his beloved son Jeff, whose memory he carried in his heart always. We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of love, prayers, and support from all corners of the racing community, from racetracks across the country to lifelong friends and respected rivals, and from fans who never missed a post parade when Lukas was listed in the program.”

More recently an active elder statesman for the sport, Lukas established benchmarks for success in the biggest of American races with 15 wins in the Triple Crown series and 20 in the Breeders’ Cup. Although those marks have been equaled or bettered, his foundation-building legacy already was secure. The Eclipse Award recipient as champion trainer in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1994, Lukas was voted into the National Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in 1999.

Whether he was in cowboy gear atop one of his familiar ponies during morning training or in a shirt and tie with his trademark blue blazer on big afternoons, Lukas cut a debonair figure that embodied his reputation as the quintessential modern horseman. He pioneered the expansion of a single stable into a multi-state operation using a template that has been copied by latter-day trainers, many of whom learned at his side.

Todd Pletcher was a Lukas assistant before he began his Hall of Fame career. So were Mark Hennig, Mike Maker, Kiaran McLaughlin, Dallas Stewart and George Weaver. In turn, multiple classic winners Brad Cox and Michael McCarthy cut their teeth as apprentices to former Lukas assistants.

“Wayne devoted his life not only to horses but to the industry, developing generations of horsemen and horsewomen and growing the game by inviting unsuspecting fans into the winner’s circle,” the family statement said. “Whether he was boasting about a maiden 2-year-old as the next Kentucky Derby winner or offering quiet words of advice before a big race, Wayne brought heart, grace and grit to every corner of the sport.”

Darrell Wayne Lukas was born Sept. 2, 1935, in Antigo, Wis., 155 miles northwest of Milwaukee. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education at the University of Wisconsin. While he was a young teacher, Lukas also worked with high-school basketball teams. That was a steppingstone to his getting the nickname Coach, which stuck for the rest of his life.

Always keenly interested in horses, Lukas moved to California in the ’60s. That led him to a successful, 10-year career training quarter horses before he switched to Thoroughbreds full time in 1978. Two years later he had his first classic winner with Codex in the Preakness Stakes. The history-making filly Winning Colors provided Lukas with his first of four Kentucky Derby triumphs.

Near the height of his success, Lukas faced controversy when one of his horses tested positive for a trace amount of cocaine after a race at Del Mar in 1989. Lukas steadfastly professed his innocence, and the case against him was dropped by the California Horse Racing Board when it determined the amount of cocaine was too infinitesimally small to draw any conclusions with the possibility it might have been random contamination.

Lukas had a run from the 1994 Preakness through the 1996 Kentucky Derby when he won six consecutive U.S. classics with four different horses. The closest he came to the Triple Crown was in 1999, when Charismatic won the Derby and Preakness but finished third and got hurt in the Belmont Stakes.

He outlived loyal owners like Gene Klein, Bob Lewis and Bill Young, and that led to a drop-off in business early in the 21st century. Still, Lukas had his moments, even enjoying a career renaissance in his final years. In 2013 he and jockey Gary Stevens teamed to take the 2013 Preakness with Oxbow. In 2014 Lukas collected his last victory in the Breeders’ Cup when Take Charge Brandi finished first in the Juvenile Fillies.

Seize the Grey carried Lukas back into the spotlight when he won the 2024 Preakness on a wet track at Pimlico. Lukas’s walk from his second-tier perch at the ancient track to the infield winner’s circle was interrupted by well-wishers who included his peers and rivals. At 88, he set a high bar as the oldest trainer to win a Triple Crown race.

Owned by MyRacehorse, the micro-share syndicate which gathered 2,570 partners at $127 per share, Seize the Grey represented the newest style of clients for a trainer who was no stranger to the bluest of bloods in the grandest of racing traditions. The colt’s performance in the 2024 Pennsylvania Derby provided Lukas with the last of his 222 Grade 1 triumphs, according to Equibase records dating to 1976.

Lukas was married five times. Laurie Lukas, his wife of more than 11 years and an accomplished horsewoman herself, was often at his side at the racetrack in his later years. He had one son with his first wife. Jeff Lukas died in 2016 at age 58 after suffering the lingering effects of a skull fracture in a 1993 stable accident at Santa Anita. Lukas is survived by his wife; adult grandchildren Brady Lukas and Kelly Lukas Roy; great-grandchildren Walker Lukas, Quinn Lukas, Jonathan Roy and Thomas Roy; his sister Dauna Lukas Moths; and his brother Lowell Lukas.

In one valedictory moment in 2022, Lukas trained Secret Oath to victory in the Kentucky Oaks (G1). This was less than two years after he went through a serious bout with COVID and nearly seven years after he was surgically fitted with a pacemaker.

As a spring shower began and spectators took cover after the race, Lukas was escorted from the infield victory ceremony to a post-race news conference. Slowly walking through the paddock tunnel and underneath the Churchill Downs grandstand, Lukas gradually attracted the attention of the milling crowd. That led to an eruption of cheers and a growing chorus of shouts and attaboys.

Even though he still had some encores in him, that 2022 triumph was a glorious curtain call to a lifetime in racing and to an indelible career that made D. Wayne Lukas a household name far beyond his sport.

The family said instead of flowers, donations may be made to the Oaklawn or Churchill backside chaplaincy or the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. A private service will be held with immediate family, and a larger, public celebration of Lukas’s life will follow on a date to be determined.