It's an expert's field at the 152nd edition of the Kentucky Derby, with multiple owners, trainers and jockeys contending for a repeat win of the trophy they've hoisted before.
But there is one legendary figure missing: D. Wayne Lukas, the Hall of Fame trainer who won his final race at this same track on June 12th, 2025. His family announced his retirement, effective immediately, just ten days later. He died six days after that, at age 89.
A 16-day span separated the trainer's final victory and his passing, indicative of his work horse reputation and legacy as a lifelong horseman.
With thoroughbred wins spanning six decades, including four Kentucky Derby wins (Winning Colors in 1988, Thunder Gulch in '95, Grindstone in '96, and Charismatic '99), 15 total Triple Crown wins and 20 Breeder's Cup victories, it's no surprise the Lukas legacy endures on the first Saturday in May, including in this year's crop of Derby hopefuls.
"His training tree's half the field," said 2024 Derby champion and Wayne's longtime friend, Kenny McPeek.
“It wasn’t unusual to see Wayne at 5 a.m. in the rain on his pony. I don’t have that. I’m not going to be out there in a yellow rain jacket! But that was Wayne," McPeek told us in the weeks leading up to only the 15th Run for the Roses without a Lukas horse in the race since his made his Derby debut in 1981.
"Physically, he was an amazing guy that he had such stamina. Even at the end, when he was really having a hard time getting around, he’d get on that pony and be out there in the first set."
“In the race, he was bound and determined to beat you," McPeek added. "But when it was over, he’d congratulate you.”
Famous for his work ethic and relentless alarm clock, Lukas paved a path not only for himself, but for his disciples.
“I think he recognized early in his career the Triple Crown and Breeder’s Cup were what drive the industry and draws the owners to the game," two-time Derby winner and fellow Hall of Famer, Todd Pletcher said last week on the back side of Churchill.
Pletcher got his start under Lukas as a college sophomore, then joined the Lukas barn full-time in the early 1990s. He left the nest later that decade, but never forgot the lessons he learned from his first boss.
“It’s an incredible tree, really, when you look at all the branches and all the people who worked for Wayne or me or any of the other assistants.”
Dallas Stewart worked for Lukas for more than a decade, first as an exercise rider, when he was in his mid-20s.
“I’d seen him on TV. Seen him winning big races. I’d gotten the opportunity to work for him, and he put me right to work. Every day was a test.”
"How did you ace it?," I responded.
"Win. Nothing beats winning."
12 years after Stewart joined the Lukas fold, he began his own barn to do some winning of his own. He soon hired Louisville native, Brad Cox, as his assistant.
“There were no easy days or walk days or days you took off," Cox said of his five years under Stewart as, in his words, a "second generation" Lukas prodigy.
"It’s demanding. But if you want to be at the top of the game, it requires a lot of time and effort. That was the Wayne way.”
“Just get up and work hard every day. Be positive. Believe in what you’re doing," Stewart added. "Try to accomplish things and don’t be afraid to rewrite the books”
But you didn't have to work alongside or even in the same profession as Lukas to learn a thing or two from "The Coach."
Throughout his decades-long coaching career throughout Louisville, including time at Ballard High School, the University of Louisville and Bellarmine University, Scott Davenport developed a deep friendship with Lukas.
“All he wanted to do with me was talk basketball; all I wanted to do with him was talk horses," Davenport said with a laugh.
Lukas, too, had a love for basketball, and his first career was high school teacher and basketball coach. Life lessons from the backside of Churchill translated to the court and back again.
“Every little thing matters. On game day of a home game, I cleaned every back board. Ladder. Towel. Windex. Cleaned ‘em," Davenport said when asked what he learned from watching Lukas. "People made fun of me! But I did it as a source of pride in doing what Wayne Lukas taught.”
There's a "different vibe" in the air on the first Saturday in May without the larger-than-life Lukas, as six-time Derby champion Bob Baffert put it.
“I miss Wayne. I miss talking to him," Baffert said.
"There’s never going to be another Wayne," said North America's leading trainer, Steve Asmussen.
“His success was envied in the beginning. In time, people really respected it," McPeek said. “For me, I can look across the way and envision him being there."
"Wayne was so much more than a horse trainer. He was a trainer, a teacher, a coach, he was a mentor to so many. Everyone’s aware of his former assistants: Pletcher, Stewart... Go on and on," Davenport said. "That’s reflective of what he was passionate about.
"That's what extraordinary people do. They make others better."
