Lukas' training tree branches out in Pegasus World Cup

Saturday’s Grade 1, $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational will produce a gathering of the D. Wayne Lukas racing clan at Gulfstream Park. Nearly half the field is connected to the Hall of Famer, who at 83 is still getting up well before dawn every day to train Thoroughbreds.

The patriarch of the tribe will saddle Bravazo for North America’s richest race, the durable 4-year-old’s ninth-consecutive start in a Grade 1 stakes. Three of Lucas’s former assistants will be represented by Pegasus horses: Todd Pletcher with 2018 Florida Derby (G1) winner Audible; Kiaran McLaughlin with Cigar Mile (G1) runner-up True Timber; and Dallas Stewart with Grade 1 winner and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile runner-up Seeking the Soul. Bravazo and True Timber are both owned by Calumet Farm.

But wait, there’s more.

City of Light’s trainer, Michael McCarthy is connected to Lukas through his long run as an assistant to Pletcher before opening his own stable in 2014. McCarthy is member of the next generation of the Lukas family that includes former Stewart assistant Brad Cox and George Weaver, who worked for Lukas and Pletcher before opening his stable.

Three generations of the Lukas family training tree will be represented in the Pegasus. According to Equibase, it is the first time that Lukas, Pletcher and McCarthy have had horses in the same race.

“I think that is a really nice legacy to have,” Lukas said. “It’s one thing to train a nice horse or have two or three champions, but any time you have an influence on a person’s life and you make a difference in what they do, and how they conduct themselves and have the success that these guys are having, there’s no finer thing than that. That to me is a much, more significant contribution to racing.

“I’m really proud to be represented by that many people that we’ve had some influence on,” he added. “The bottom line of course is that we have got some really talented guys leading a horse over there.”

Like Lukas, Pletcher, McLaughlin and Stewart have all developed champions, all won Breeders’ Cup races and regularly compete in the marquee events in America. McCarthy, whose career took a major step forward in 2018, recommended the purchase of City of Light and was very patient with the large, late-developing horse who is a finalist for an Eclipse Award in the older male dirt horse division. Four of their five Pegasus horses have earned over $1 million, four have won graded stakes and each of them has at least been second in a Grade 1 race.

While Lukas is linked to the talented assistants who were at his side during the years when he thoroughly dominated the sport – they participated in his Hall of Fame induction in 1999 - he is a self-taught horseman. Born and raised in Wisconsin, Lukas taught school and coached basketball before leaving education to train Quarter Horses and then Thoroughbreds. 

“I never did work for anyone else,” Lukas said. “I learned by trial and error and I probably made a lot of mistakes. But somewhere along I must have done something right because it’s really been a rewarding career.”

Indeed, Lukas set standards for success in purse money won and Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup victories and had a lasting impact on the young men who worked for him.

“He was one of the greatest trainers of all time and to me a great mentor, teacher and a coach,” said McLaughlin, who was with Lukas from 1985 to 1992. “He taught us all so much about the business and has helped us along the way. It’s a great honor to be in the race with him and we happen to be training for the same owner. So that’s neat. It’s a great honor to be in the race with Todd and Dallas, too and be there. Wayne has been a great mentor to all of us and a coach.”

Lukas was the first trainer to earn $100 million and then $200 million in purse money won. Pletcher passed Lukas as the leading earner in May 2014, went roaring past $300 million and is at $369 million. He has won seven Eclipse Awards as outstanding trainer. McCarthy was on Pletcher’s staff for more than 11 years before returning home to California to launch his own business. He cracked $1 million for the first time in 2017 and tripled that figure with $3.95 million in 2019.

“I never worked for Wayne, but I guess there are so many things I took from Todd that Todd took from Wayne,” McCarthy said. “You could say maybe the fundamentals of organization and preparation.”

McCarthy said he has gotten to know Lukas through the years.

“We were stabled across from him during my tenure at Churchill Downs so I spoke with him quite a bit there,” he said. “It was nice to catch up with him a little bit during Breeders’ Cup week at Churchill Downs. I’ve been lucky enough to be invited to his house to see his trophies. I thought that was pretty, pretty neat.”

Lukas has long scoffed at the idea that he would retire. He is based in Kentucky in the spring and fall, Saratoga during the summer and Oaklawn Park in Arkansas during the winter. Still driven to compete and win major races, he enjoys sharing the experience he has gathered through life.

“Once you’re a teacher, you can’t help yourself, you’re always a teacher,” Lukas said. “It really is something. I was talking with Bill Parcells about it and he said the same thing, that you see something that needs to be coached and you start coaching it. I’m guilty of that with guys that I didn’t have under me in my program.

"I’ll be at the starting gate and somebody will do something with a horse and I will say, at the risk of stepping out of bounds and saying something I’m not supposed to, ‘Here is what I suggest you ought to do.’ You can’t help yourself. You just get involved.”