Thank You Forever, "Coach" D. Wayne Lukas

We are in mourning. We received word that D. Wayne Lukas ("Coach") passed last night, Saturday, June 28, 2025 after a brief illness after announcing his sudden retirement a few days ago. He was 89 years old. An absolute legend, icon and inspiration to the industry, we will miss his words of wisdom and seeing him out on the track on his trusty paint pony, Bucky. 

The Coach was currently training two horses for our groups -- Caldera (Liam's Map) and Munny Problem (Not This Time) -- with a third, Trust But Verify (Into Mischief), to head his way shortly. He also trained Seize The Grey, now retired to stud in Kentucky after winning the Preakness, Pennsylvania Derby (both G1) and Pat Day Mile (G2, on the 2024 Kentucky Derby undercard). 

We'll try to capture just some of the achievements he left behind, but his most intangible victories were the impact he had on our sport and the respect he garnered from so many from throughout the racing community. We'll post links to some of that press below. This post will be edited as more are added in the coming days.

Daily Racing Form:  Racing Legend D. Wayne Lukas Dead at 89 

Paulick Report:  Legendary Trainer D. Wayne Lukas Passes Away

Bloodhorse:  Industry-Shaping Horseman Lukas Dies at Age 89

Thank you coach for training some of the greatest horses racing has ever seen. 

• Azeri
• Blush With Pride 
• Boston Harbor (*BC)
• Capote (*BC)
• Cara Rafaela
• Cash Run (*BC)
• Cat Thief (*BC)
• Charismatic
• Codex 
• Commendable
• Dynaformer
• Editor's Note
• Flanders (*BC)
• Folklore (*BC)
• Grindstone (Kentucky Derby winner, grandsire of Mine That Bird)
• Gulch (*BC)
• Hightail (*BC)
• Is It True (*BC)
• Lady's Secret (*BC, Champion, Horse of the Year, Secretariat daughter) 
• Life's Magic (*BC)
• Mine That Bird (after his Kentucky Derby win)
• Open Mind (*BC)
• Orientate (*BC)
• Oxbow (Preakness winner 2014)
• Sacahuista (*BC)
• SEIZE THE GREY (Preakness, Penn Derby, Pat Day Mile - one of ours)
• Serena's Song
• Spain (*BC)
• Steinlen (*BC)
• Success Express (*BC)
• Tabasco Cat
• Take Charge Brandi (*BC)
• Tanks Prospect
• Thunder Gulch
• Timber Country (*BC)
• Twilight Ridge (*BC)
• Winning Colors (filly who won the Kentucky Derby)

*Breeders’ Cup Winners Trained by D. Wayne Lukas (Alphabetical Order): Boston Harbor (Juvenile, 1996), Capote (Juvenile, 1986), Cash Run (Juvenile Fillies, 1999), Cat Thief (Classic, 1999), Flanders (Juvenile Fillies, 1994), Folklore (Juvenile Fillies, 2005), Gulch (Sprint, 1988), Hightail (Juvenile Sprint, 2012), Is It True (Juvenile, 1988), Lady's Secret (Distaff, 1986), Life's Magic (Distaff, 1985), Open Mind (Juvenile Fillies, 1988), Orientate (Sprint, 2002), Sacahuista (Distaff, 1987), Spain (Distaff, 2000), Steinlen (GB) (Mile, 1989), Success Express (Juvenile, 1987), Take Charge Brandi (Juvenile Fillies, 2014), Timber Country (Juvenile, 1994), Twilight Ridge (Juvenile Fillies, 1985).

For a few, their legacy lived on with:

• Boston Harbor sired Healthy Addiction
• Cara Rafaela foaling Bernardini (sire) 
• Dynaformer sired the legendary Barbaro (Kentucky Derby) 
• Is It True sired Yes It's True (who sired our race mare Endless Thyme)
• SEIZE THE GREY (top earning son of Arrogate, now standing 1st year at stud)

But perhaps the biggest impact, by far, was the influence Coach had on those who learned from him. Todd Pletcher, who went on to be and still remains one of the elite top trainers, but also successful trainers Kiaran McLaughlin, Dallas Stewart, Randy Bradshaw, Mark Hennig, Mike Maker, and George Weaver. 

Sadly, one of his greatest pupils was his son, Jeff, toted by many as a sharp and effective trainer in his own right. Jeff suffered severe brain injury when one of the Coach's top horses, Tabasco Cat, broke away and ran Jeff over causing Jeff's head to impact the ground. Though Jeff did try to return to training after his recovery later, the work proved too much for him. He passed in 2016 at age 58.

In 1987, Lukas won 92 stakes races at tracks throughout the country, a record that would stand for nearly 20 years before Pletcher (appropriately enough!) broke that record in 2006.

Many other trainers were his competitors, but also long-time peers who carried a deep respect for and friendship with him, including Bob Baffert, Kenny McPeek, and Steve Asmussen. 

But there were also the legions of youth who he took to the winners circles over the years so they could experience the thrill of getting their photo taken with the winner, or the kids he'd hand signed cards from the back of his pony horse, or just stopped to chat with as they stood at the rail watching in awe. 

He is the only trainer to have been named to BOTH the Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred Hall of Fame.  

But for us, what a huge honor it was to be involved with his last horse to win a Triple Crown race in 2024, with our own SEIZE THE GREY winning the Preakness wire-to-wire. "Ceasar" won a second grade 1 race in the Pennsylvania Derby four months later, and also competed in the 2024 Breeders Cup Dirt Mile, his last BC contender. But that was followed with the thrill this year, 2025, of seeing Caldera headed down the Derby Trail road. Though sadly he didn't make the field of any of the races, he had the great pleasure of watching him place 2nd in a head-bob decision in the Sunland Park Derby (Kentucky Derby prep race) right here in our own state. We now own (and cherish) the saddlecloth from that race.