Legendary horse trainer D. Wayne Lukas dead at 89

D. Wayne Lukas, the legendary horse trainer who won 15 Triple Crown races, has died, his family announced on Sunday. He was 89,

Lukas had recently been hospitalized with a severe MRSA blood infection that caused major damage to his heart and digestive system. The illness worsened pre-existing chronic conditions.

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"Wayne devoted his life not only to horses but to the industry – developing generations of horsemen and horsewomen and growing the game by inviting unsuspecting fans into the winner’s circle," his family said. 

"Whether he was boasting about a maiden 2-year-old as the next Kentucky Derby winner or offering quiet words of advice before a big race, Wayne brought heart, grace, and grit to every corner of the sport. His final days were spent at home in Kentucky, where he chose peace, family, and faith."

Lukas had four Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes victories as well as seven wins in the Preakness Stakes. The Lukas-trained Seize the Grey won the Preakness in 2024.

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He also owns a record-tying 20 wins in the Breeders’ Cup.

"The whole secret of this game, I think, is being able to read the horse: Read what he needs, what he doesn’t need, what he can’t do, what he can do," Lukas said in May before the Preakness. "That’s the whole key. Everybody’s got the blacksmith, everybody’s got the same bed available, the feed man. We all can hire a good jockey. We all can hire a pretty good exercise rider if we’ve got the means, so what the hell is the difference? The horse is the difference and what we do with him in reading him."

He has 4,967 victories in thoroughbred racing with his horses earning more than $310 million from more than 30,600 starts.

"Today we lost one of the great champions of Churchill Downs and one of the most significant figures in Thoroughbred racing over the last 50 years," Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen added. "We will miss his humor, his wisdom and his unmatched capacity to thrill the fans with the performances of his horses on our sport’s biggest days."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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