Lukas Tests Negative for COVID-19

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who tested positive for COVID-19 this month, has wrapped up quarantine and tested negative for the novel coronavirus, according to a tweet from his grandson Brady Wayne Lukas.

"Wayne has completed the isolation period and has received a negative test result. He's back!" Brady Lukas wrote on Twitter Aug. 23.

Brady Lukas tweeted Aug. 12 that the conditioner had tested positive and was completing isolation at home. He also said his grandfather had not been to work for several days prior to the first symptom, so no one else at the barn was affected.

The diagnosis came during a summer period in which the state of Kentucky has had a rise in COVID-19 cases.

Wayne has completed the isolation period and has received a negative test result. He’s back! https://t.co/gVb7x2nNVp

— Brady Wayne Lukas (@bwaynelukas) August 23, 2020

Lukas, 84, normally travels to Saratoga Race Course for the New York Racing Association's summer meet but this year remained in Kentucky to oversee his Churchill Downs-based string. Saratoga is conducting live racing without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The conditioner has been active at Ellis Park this summer. Three of his trainees ran at the Henderson, Ky., track Friday, three more Saturday, and one was entered in Sunday's final race.

Lukas was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1999. He has won 14 Triple Crown races, the most recent of which was the 2013 Preakness Stakes (G1) with Calumet Farm's Oxbow . Seven months later, he received an Eclipse Award of Merit. The four-time Kentucky Derby (G1) winner also earned the Eclipse Award for outstanding trainer from 1985-87 and in 1994.

He underwent back surgery last fall but soon returned to the track and was seated astride his pony for morning training.