Wayne Lukas

It was 10:40 Wednesday morning at Pimlico Race Track, and a 71-year-old man in blue jeans and a white cowboy hat was in hog heaven. Had there been a puddle of mud nearby, he'd have rolled around in it. Darrell Wayne Lukas, D. Wayne to his friends and several million horse race fans, is back at the Preakness, where he loves and is loved. After years of working out of Santa Anita, he lives in Louisville, Ky., now and uses that as his horse-training headquarters.

Wayne Lukas' presence in California has lessened in recent years. The Hall of Fame trainer now has a home in Louisville and spends most of his time in Kentucky and New York. Lukas, who became a force in thoroughbred racing all those years ago while locally based, is back.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- He may have bailed out on California racing, but it's still like old times for trainer Wayne Lukas at the Kentucky Derby. Lukas will put two longshots in the starting gate when the 129th Derby is run Saturday, which is just the way he likes it. Lukas is most dangerous at Churchill Downs when he has the least chance. Referring to Empire Maker, who could be even money or less on Saturday, Lukas said, "[Trainer Bobby Frankel] is on a great roll, but he can't mail it in."

Victories in the Swaps Stakes and the Hollywood Juvenile Championship, two of the five stakes being run today on Hollywood Park's penultimate program, would be nothing new for trainer Wayne Lukas. Twice in the last three years Lukas has won the $500,000 Swaps--with Victory Speech in 1996 and Kentucky Derby and Belmont winner Thunder Gulch in 1995. Lukas has also won the $100,000 Juvenile twice in the same period, winning with K.O. Punch in 1997 and Hennessy in 1995.

Not that long ago, the Triple Crown races seemed to be trainer Wayne Lukas' birthright. But last year Lukas had to rummage through his grab bag just to find a horse that would run last in the Kentucky Derby. And this year, one by one, his 3-year-old prospects have struggled. With the Derby less than eight weeks away, Lukas needs a wake-up horse before he calls for a hotel reservation in Louisville.

Only three fillies have won the Kentucky Derby in the 123 years of its running. Wayne Lukas has trained a third of them. Only three fillies have won the Santa Anita Derby in its 59 runnings. Wayne Lukas has trained a third of them. To be sure, it was the same filly and the same year--Winning Colors in 1988--but the percentages still stand. Thirty-six fillies have started in the Kentucky Derby. And 20 have started in the Santa Anita Derby. The lesson is not lost.

Probably without a starter in the Kentucky Derby for the first time since 1980, trainer Wayne Lukas could join the broadcasting team that will televise the race for ABC. Lukas' business manager, Larry Feldman, said Tuesday he approached ABC about the possibility, the network is interested and negotiations are continuing. A decision could be made by early next week. The Derby will be run at Churchill Downs on May 3.

Mike Battaglia, who has been making the morning line for the Kentucky Derby and other races at Churchill Downs for about 20 years, sounded apologetic. "Deeds Not Words, 50-1," he said at Wednesday night's post-position draw for Saturday's Kentucky Derby. "And yes, this is the first time I've ever made a Wayne Lukas horse 50-1."

Just because trainer Wayne Lukas ran a quarter horse at Los Alamitos Friday night doesn't mean that he's considering a career change. "I've got some other quarter horses," Lukas said. "But they're the ones we use for ponies at Santa Anita." All the rest are thoroughbreds, the game Lukas turned upside down when he left Los Alamitos and quarter horses in 1978.

Five more victories like Sunday's $250,000 Del Mar Debutante and Sharp Cat will have earned back her purchase price. A $900,000 purchase by trainer Wayne Lukas for the Thoroughbred Corporation at the Barretts March sale, the 2-year-old Storm Cat filly became a graded-stakes winner in her third start. In the slowest Debutante since the race was shortened from a mile to seven furlongs in 1993, the 11-1 shot outstaggered Desert Digger and eight others to win the $150,000 top prize.