30 Years/30 Days: Oldest, Youngest Trainers
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Already the holder of so many Breeders' Cup records, trainer D. Wayne Lukas became the oldest trainer to saddle a winner at the World Championships when he sent Hightail out to an upset victory in the 2012 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint at Santa Anita Park.
The victory made Lukas the oldest winning trainer, edging P.G. Johnson by just a few weeks as both saddled winners at age 77. Johnson secured an upset victory in the 2002 Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) at Arlington Park with Volponi, a horse who lost his four races before the Classic and the eight races that would follow.
Following last year's Breeders' Cup victory, Lukas has put together a strong season this year with wins in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) by Oxbow and in the Travers Stakes (gr. I) by Will Take Charge, who will be a contender in this year's Classic. Lukas has won a record 19 Breeders' Cup races, including the 1999 Classic with Cat Thief , and he ranks first in purse earnings at $20,320,520.
After winning the Juvenile Sprint with Hightail, Lukas noted that he still enjoys pursuing the biggest race victories.
"I still have the passion for it and I train every day and ride every day," Lukas said. "I'm not going to retire. I'm going to ride out there one morning and fall off the pony. They will harrow me under and if the harrow goes over me a couple of times, that will be the end of it."
At the other end of the spectrum, Craig Dollase is the youngest to condition a Breeders' Cup winner as he sent out Reraise to victory in the 1998 Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I) at Churchill Downs. At age 27, Dollase, who also owned a percentage of Reraise, capped a season in which the 3-year-old son of Danzatore won three stakes and earned champion sprinter honors.
Dollase started his career as an assistant to his father, Wally Dollase. In Breeders' Cup races since his victory with Reraise, Dollase has saddled Awesome Gem to a third-place finish in the 2007 Classic at Monmouth Park and Elloluv to a runner-up finish in the 2003 Distaff (gr. I) at Santa Anita.