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D. Wayne Lukas is 89 and wants to win a 5th Kentucky Derby. He's up before dawn in pursuit of it

D. Wayne Lukas is easy to spot before dawn at Churchill Downs. He is one of the few Kentucky Derby trainers atop a stable pony, escorting his horses to and from the track for their workouts.

At 89, he is the sport’s elder statesman, a Hall of Famer with four Derby victories on a very lengthy resume. On Saturday, he will be chasing another with 30-1 shot American Promise.

Like the former basketball coach he is, Lukas isn't afraid to flip the playbook. American Promise went off the beaten path to earn his way to Kentucky with a win in the Virginia Derby. He's a son of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify.

“He looks exactly like him,” Lukas said. “He’s developing very good at the right time.”

Lukas’ last Derby win was in 1999 with Charismatic. He has entered 16 horses since and finished second in 2002 with Proud Citizen. He won the 2022 Kentucky Oaks for fillies. Last year, he won the Preakness and the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby.

Since his first Derby try in 1981, Lukas has saddled the second-most entries at 50, exceeded only by his protégé, Todd Pletcher, who has 65. Pletcher also has a long-shot entry on Saturday with Grande at 20-1.

A promising 3-year-old in the barn come the first Saturday in May can put a spring in any trainer’s step. Also invigorating Lukas are the deep-pocketed owners he has after his stock of good horses had gone way down.

“Our business the last six months has just taken off,” he said.

He reminded his clientele that he will be 92 when the young horses they bought are ready to be trained at the racetrack. He suggested they might want to limit their purchases or send some to younger conditioners. They ignored him and bought 18 instead.

Lukas isn’t a complainer but he told John Bellinger, co-owner of American Promise, that his legs were tired.

“That’s fine, don’t worry about that,‘” Bellinger responded. “Just don’t lose your mind.”

Far from it, according to Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens. He and Lukas teamed to win the Derby in 1988 with filly Winning Colors.

“Wayne is known for how meticulous he is with everything that he does. That hasn’t changed and it won’t change,” Stevens said. “He still rides out every morning. He can still tell a good horse. He’s got a great eye. He picks all these horses out at the sales, their angles, their looks. He’s still got it at 89.”

That was evident at the auction where Lukas spotted American Promise. His old friend and rival Bob Baffert also had his eye on the colt since he had trained the sire, Justify.

Noticing a contusion above one of the colt’s knees, Baffert figured he could get him for a steal at $400,000.

Not so fast. American Promise sold for $750,000.

“I went to see who bought this horse,” Baffert said. “There he was — The Coach.”

While others were thinking the colt had a bad knee, Lukas’ gut told him otherwise.

“That was just a bump,” he said. “It went down in a week.”

One of Lukas’ few concessions to age is a desire to limit his stable to 40 horses, the same number of stalls he has at Churchill Downs in the spring and at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas in the winter.

“We’ve run the red light on that,” he said. “We’re up to about 52 or 53 now.”

Lukas told his fifth wife, Laurie, that given his age the couple might want to buy a few horses of their own for fun and send them to someone else to train. That plan also went awry.

“I bought four or five and we now have 11 racehorses,” he said. “We got some really nice colts.”

In other words, don’t expect Lukas to ride off into retirement anytime soon.

“I always thought he would have been a great commissioner of racing, a great spokesperson, because he’s so smart, speaks well,” Baffert said. “He knows the ins and outs and he still plays at that high level.”

Lukas and Baffert — who owns a record-tying six — have the most victories of any trainer in this year’s race. Nine of the trainers are in the Derby for the first or second time.

“There’s no how-to book,” Lukas said. “Those younger guys are going to make mistakes just like we all did. They’ll all learn, especially in this race.”

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AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing and Derby coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/kentucky-derby

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