Hall of Fame thoroughbred trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who guided four horses into the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle, died Saturday night in Louisville, Ky. He was 89.
According to reports Monday, Lukas had been hospitalized with a severe infection and declined to go through the “aggressive treatment plan” doctors in Louisville had outlined, according to his family.
“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 Lukas family said in a statement Sunday. “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.”
Lukas had returned to his home and was under hospice care for the last week to spend his remaining days with his wife, Laurie, and an extended family that includes two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
The horses trained by Lukas have been moved to the guidance of Sebastian “Bas” Nicholl, in accordance with the Lukas Enterprises Inc. succession plan. Nicholl is the longtime assistant to Lukas.
Lukas-trained horses won 15 Triple Crown races, second only to Bob Baffert’s 17. His horses posted 20 Breeders’ Cup wins and he won the Eclipse Award as the country’s top trainer four times.
Lukas was enshrined in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in 1999.
After college, he began his career as a high school teacher and basketball coach in Wisconsin, and he took a summer job working with quarter horses in South Dakota in 1968. Four years later, he moved to California to become a full-time trainer of quarter horses and, in 1977 at age 42, he got his first win as a thoroughbred trainer at Santa Anita.
As a thoroughbred trainer, he had 4,967 wins and his horses earned more than $301 million from 30,607 starts, according to statistics from Churchill Downs.
The final win of his career came when 4-year-old colt Tour Player won at Churchill Downs on June 12. His final Triple Crown victory was at the Preakness Stakes with Seize the Grey in 2024.
Other Triple Crown winners trained by Lukas include Tabasco Cat (1994), Thunder Gulch (1995) and Charismatic (1999). He won six consecutive Triple Crown races, starting with the 1994 Preakness Stakes and running through the 1996 Kentucky Derby.
Nicholl said he will carry the influence of Lukas with him.
“Wayne built a legacy that will never be matched,” Nicholl said. “Every decision I make, every horse I saddle, I’ll hear his voice in the back of my mind. This isn’t about filling his shoes — no one can — it’s about honoring everything that he’s built.”
While horse racing brought success at the highest level to Lukas, it also gave him his greatest tragedy.
In December 1993, his only son, Jeff, was at Santa Anita when Tabasco Cat got loose from his handlers. When 36-year-old Jeff Lukas tried to stop him, Tabasco Cat slammed into him, leaving the younger Lukas with a severe brain injury. He returned to work for his father the next summer but only for a short period of time.
Jeff Lukas died on March 24, 2016, at age 58.
“As we grieve at his passing,” said the Lukas family’s statement, “we find peace in knowing he is now reunited with his beloved son, Jeff, whose memory he carried in his heart always.”
–Field Level Media
