D. Wayne Lukas biography
D. Wayne Lukas, in full Darrell Wayne Lukas, (born September 2, 1935, Antigo, Wisconsin, U.S.), American Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse coach whose horses captured quite a few races and amassed file earnings.
Lukas was raised on a farm in Wisconsin. He raced his pony on the native fairgrounds and at age eight started shopping for, promoting, and coaching horses. He continued coaching and buying and selling horses whereas on the University of Wisconsin, the place he obtained a grasp’s diploma in training (1961).
Lukas started coaching Quarter Horses full-time in 1967 and gained 73 races in 1970. In 1975 his 150 victories doubled the file for many Quarter Horse wins in a yr by a coach. He produced 23 champions between 1976 and 1977 and captured all six main California stakes of $100,000 or extra for 3 consecutive years (1975–77).
Lukas started coaching Thoroughbreds full-time in 1978. While setting a file with 92 stakes winners in 1987, he grew to become the primary coach in historical past to amass extra purse earnings than the main U.S. jockey. His horses gained $17.8 million in 1988, greater than double the quantity ever gained in a single yr by every other coach. Lukas gained the Eclipse Award because the nation’s greatest coach for 3 consecutive years (1985–87). In 1988 Winning Colors gave Lukas his first Kentucky Derby victory. She was the third filly in historical past to assert such a victory. In 1990 he grew to become the primary coach whose horses surpassed $100 million in whole winnings.
After a couple of comparatively unsuccessful years, Lukas gained a fourth Eclipse Award in 1994, after his Tabasco Cat gained the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. In 1995 Lukas grew to become the primary coach to have a number of horses from his secure win all three Triple Crown races in a single yr: Thunder Gulch claimed victory in each the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont, and Timber Country took the Preakness. After his Grindstone gained the 1996 Kentucky Derby, Lukas grew to become the primary coach to win six consecutive Triple Crown races.
In 1997 Lukas returned to coaching Quarter Horses, although he continued to coach Thoroughbreds as properly. Charismatic got here near sealing a Triple Crown for Lukas in 1999, profitable each the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. However, the horse lagged within the Belmont and was finally decided to have damaged his leg; regardless of the loss, Charismatic was named Horse of the Year. That identical yr Lukas grew to become the primary coach whose horses exceeded $200 million in winnings.
In 2000 Commendable gained the Belmont, and two years later Lukas primed Orientate for a win on the Breeder’s Cup. He guided the filly Folklore to a Breeder’s Cup win in 2005. He held the Breeder’s Cup file with 20 wins. In 2013 Lukas claimed an unprecedented 14th Triple Crown race win with Oxbow’s victory within the Preakness; Bob Baffert surpassed his file in 2018.
Lukas was inducted into the National Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame in 1999 and the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2007.