Breeders' Cup Legends: D. Wayne Lukas

D. Wayne Lukas is the leading Breeders' Cup trainer by both wins and earnings. (Photos by Eclipse Sportswire)
D. Wayne Lukas has spent his career revolutionizing the training of racehorses. After ruling the Quarter Horse racing industry for nearly a decade he smoothly transitioned to Thoroughbred dominance in 1978, where he reeled off 11 straight years at the top of the earnings list, winning six Triple Crown races in a row. The 80-year-old Lukas has trained 26 Thoroughbred champions and won more Triple Crown races than any other trainer (14), topping the earnings list a total of 14 times in all.
"He didn't set the bar," fellow trainer Bob Baffert said about Lukas in an interview with ESPN. "He WAS the bar."
Perhaps nowhere is the Lukas bar higher than in the Breeders’ Cup. The Hall of Famer has won a record 20 Breeders’ Cup races, nine more than his nearest competitor, Baffert, and his Breeders’ Cup earnings of $22,580,520 is more than $5-million the best.
Lukas has been involved since the Breeders’ Cup’s inception in 1984, saddling five starters that year with two second-place finishes. In 1985 he got his first two Breeders’ Cup wins, and in 1986 he captured the Distaff with future Hall of Famer Lady’s Secret.
As a 3-year-old in 1985, Lady’s Secret ran 17 times, winning a slew of stakes including the Grade 2 Test and Ballerina at sprint distances. Lukas then successfully stretched her out to capture a trio of Grade 1 routes, including the legendary Beldame Stakes heading into that year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Her eight-race win streak was snapped in that race as she finished second to another Lukas trainee, Life’s Magic.
The Oklahoma-bred daughter of Secretariat was just getting started. In 1986 the filly kicked off her season with three graded stakes wins and performed at the highest level all season, beating the boys in the historic Grade 1 Whitney Handicap and finishing third against males in the Met Mile and second in the Woodward. In the fall she repeated her three Grade 1 wins heading into the Breeders’ Cup, where she would take another crack at the Distaff. Her 2 ½-length victory sealed year-end honors, and with her performances against males, Lady’s Secret was also named 1986 Horse of the Year.
1986 BREEDERS’ CUP DISTAFF

Video courtesy Breeders’ Cup World Championships
“[Lady’s Secret] was maintenance free,” Lukas said in an in interview with Tom Pedulla. “All we had to do was run her and look for the next race ... She just overachieved day after day, and you never got to the bottom of her.”
After a pair of Breeders’ Cup wins in 1987, Lukas had another memorable year in 1988. Not only did he win his first Kentucky Derby that year with filly Winning Colors, he saddled two more champions to victory in the Breeders’ Cup.
Gulch began his career with five straight wins before a fifth-place Breeders’ Cup Juvenile finish derailed his championship aspirations. As a 3-year-old in 1987 he won the Wood Memorial and the Met Mile against older horses but finished ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. In 1988 Gulch finally put it all together for Lukas, winning the Potrero Grande, Carter Handicap and Met Mile while placing at the top level over longer distances, including the Grade 1 Whitney. He finished second in the Vosburgh and marched into the Breeders’ Cup Sprint ready to roll over a sloppy track. Roll he did, launching his bid from the back of the pack to win by ¾ of a length and earn the Eclipse Award for champion sprinter.
1988 BREEDERS’ CUP SPRINT

Video courtesy Breeders’ Cup World Championships
Eventual dual-champion Open Mind captured the Juvenile Fillies that year, and he had six more winners through 1999. In 2000 Lukas captured his fourth Distaff with a mare who would become the richest female racehorse of all time, Spain.
Spain’s career began inconspicuously, winning only one start as a 2-year-old and having only a second-place finish in five starts through the first half of her 3-year-old season. Lukas dropped her into allowance company, where she rediscovered her will to win and proceeded to capture two graded stakes and a pair of Grade 1 placings heading into the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
Despite her late-season change of form, Spain wasn’t given much respect by bettors and was sent off at 55.90-to-1, the second-longest shot in the field. Those who did back her were rewarded when she pounced at the top of the stretch and galloped to a 1 ½-length win at Churchill Downs over her more heralded stablemate Surfside.
2000 BREEDERS’ CUP DISTAFF

Video courtesy Breeders’ Cup World Championships
As a 4-year-old Spain continued to compete at the top level, rarely winning but often placing. Her attempt at defending her Distaff title was upset by a head by Unbridled Elaine, and she was retired midway through her 5-year-old season after a pair of graded stakes wins. Spain’s career earnings topped $3.5 million, more than any other filly or mare at that time.
Lukas’ most recent Breeders’ Cup win came just last year with a filly that was also his most recent champion. In typical Lukas fashion, Take Charge Brandi was entered in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies even though most gave her little chance of winning. The $435,000 yearling purchase had a stellar pedigree but after starting her career with a win and a graded stakes placing had reeled off three consecutive losses by 11 lengths or more.
Sent off at 61.70-to-1, Take Charge Brandi finally justified her hefty sale price in the 2014 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita Park. The filly sprang to the lead under Victor Espinoza and led all the way around the track, holding sway over Top Decile for a half-length win. Lukas then set out to prove that win was no fluke, and Take Charge Brandi rounded out the year with wins in the Delta Downs Princess Stakes and the Grade 1 Starlet. She was named champion 2-year-old filly for her efforts.
TAKE CHARGE BRANDI

“She’s very workmanlike,” Lukas said of Take Charge Brandi. “She knows how to win races. She’s cruising along, very relaxed, and then that horse comes to her and she surges back and wins.”
Many would say the same of Lukas. The octogenarian shows no signs of slowing, and though he’s had lulls in his 45-plus year career, his resilience, commitment and knowledge of the sport continue to enable his success, at the Breeders’ Cup and elsewhere.