D. Wayne Lukas hopes to beat the odds and win his fifth Kentucky Derby.
82-year-old aims for fifth Derby win with a long shot
LOUISVILLE — Each and every morning, no matter what race track he is at, D. Wayne Lukas is aboard his loyal sidekick, his pony Starbuck. He accompanies his horses to the track, a practice he has had since his younger days.
Lukas is still young at heart, but the clock says he is 82. With the Kentucky Derby just three days away, Lukas now feels it’s more of a privilege to be a part of it.
“Yes, this is more fun than it used to be,” Lukas said with that familiar toothy grin. “Why is that? Maybe because I don’t know how many more of these I have left.”
For a time, during the 1990s, when you talked Kentucky Derby and trainers, the conversation started with Lukas, the former basketball coach. Three of his four Kentucky Derby wins came in that decade with Charismatic, in 1999, being the latest.
Going into this year’s Derby, Lukas and former assistant Todd Pletcher were tied with the most lifetime starters in America’s most famous race with 48. Pletcher will pass his teacher this year as he has four horses pointed to the Derby; Lukas has just one in long shot Bravazo, who is 50-1 on the morning line.
Been here before
Long odds don’t bother Lukas. He has won this race before when the public didn’t believe. Thunder Gulch was 24-1 when he swiped the roses in 1995; Charismatic was 31-1.
If Bravazo can find his way to the Derby winner’s circle first, his price will trump them both. The son of Awesome Again is 50-1 on the Derby morning line, one of five horses to have been bestowed those odds by Churchill oddsmaker Mike Battaglia.
That’s OK. When Lukas is given no chance, that’s when his competitive juices really get flowing.
Bravazo has won twice in three starts this year, the biggest being the Grade II Risen Star at Fair Grounds on Feb. 17 when he went off at 21-1 and won by a nose. He came back and was eighth in the Grade II Louisiana Derby. In Saturday’s Derby, he will be ridden for the first time by Luis Contreras.
Of course, Lukas was disappointed with the finish in the Louisiana Derby, but he has since perked up.
“A month ago, I would have said if we just could split the (Derby) field, I would be happy,” Lukas said. “Now, I am confident we can make some noise.”
Rebounding well
Lukas’ confidence comes from the way his colt has worked since the dud in Louisiana. In three works at Churchill since then, Bravazo has impressed Lukas. His last work came here on April 28 and he went five furlongs in 1:01 2⁄5.
“My horse is training really well,” Lukas said. “But he has to move forward. I think he is one of the ones in there that can run a mile and a quarter (Derby distance).”
Bravazo has done his best running when he is near the lead.
That could mean he will make expected pacesetter Promises Fulfilled work a little bit and Derby favorite Justify, too.
“I would put (Bravazo) in my super (superfecta),” Lukas said and then smiled. “But I box seven of them.”