Famous American thoroughbred trainer D. Wayne Lukas returns to the Kentucky Derby with relative longshot Bravazo in 2018. Born in 1935, Lukas will be 82 years old as he takes in the action at Churchill Downs. Lukas is on of those familiar faces — along with Bob Baffert’s — that even casual horse racing fans know, mostly because casual fans tune in for the Triple Crown races. And that’s where Lukas has long excelled.
Lukas holds the record for a trainer with 14 Triple Crown wins. His horses have started 48 Kentucky Derby races and won the Kentucky Derby 4 times with Winning Colors (’88), Thunder Gulch (1995), Grindstone (‘96) and Charismatic (‘99). The year Charismatic won is the same year Lukas was inducted into the Hall of Fame. He is currently savoring his good fortune and the prodigious fruit of his labors, but also — as ever –looking forward. Lukas returns to the Derby for the first time since 2015. “I probably enjoy it a little bit more now,” Lukas told reporters.
