Saratogians mourn the death of horse racing icon D. Wayne Lukas
The legendary Hall of Fame trainer won his last Triple Crown race for hundreds of horse owners with Saratoga ties.
You are reading a sneak peek version of The Dispatch: Daily News in the Spa City.
Saratogians have come out in force to honor horse racing icon D. Wayne “Coach” Lukas, who died at the age of 89 after being rushed to the hospital on Saturday night, June 28. His family had announced his retirement to the Associated Press the week prior, on June 22, after the Hall of Fame trainer decided to end treatment for a MRSA infection and additional chronic health issues.
Lukas had also already decided not to stable any horses in Saratoga this summer and instead remain home in Kentucky. He did not make it to the Spa to see his Hill Road race in the 2025 Belmont Stakes on June 7.
But Saratogians were quick to remember the Coach and the decades he spent coming to Saratoga Race Course — most recently, the 2024 Belmont that featured his Preakness winner Seize the Grey. (That triumph made Lukas the oldest trainer to win a Triple Crown race.) With more than 2,500 owners via the MyRacehorse micro-share app — hundreds of whom lived in Saratoga or traveled here to watch their horse race — Grey stirred up excitement for Saratoga’s first Belmont.
“When I first found out he was coming, I got [to the Oklahoma track] at 5:30 the very first morning, and D. Wayne's already there,” Billy Jeffreys, a horse owner of more than 25 years, tells the Dispatch. “His gambling book was the best gambling book I ever read in my life, about Winning Colors, which won the Kentucky Derby. He’s on his horse and signs my book — and then he tells me the real story. We sat there for probably 45 minutes and chatted. And honestly, I just became friends with the guy and probably went down there every morning for 30 days.
“I told him that about 25 years ago, he did a cigar/bourbon smoker at the Holiday Inn — back then, you could smoke inside. They rented this massive ballroom, and only 20 people showed up. We all sat down, and for two hours he told the most amazing stories. He remembered that.”
“I was getting ready to hopefully see him on his 90th birthday,” adds Jeffreys, who lives near the training track and was an owner of Seize the Grey. “So [this news] was a bombshell. It's just kind of a melancholy day for me.”
Billy’s wife, Sue, also fondly remembers her morning routine when Grey was prepping for the 2024 Belmont in Saratoga. “I would yell out, ‘I love you, Grey!’” she tells the Dispatch. “The exercise rider and assistant Miguel, without hesitation and with joy, would yell back, ‘We love you!’ It was our ritual.”
“We had planned to visit Gainesway Farm, where Grey is, in the fall,” Sue says. “We were also looking forward to seeing Lukas again this summer.”
Other Saratoga fans took to social media to share their feelings about the trainer’s passing.
“Earlier today I was telling a friend of mine that Saratoga workout would never be the same without seeing Coach riding at 5 a.m.,” wrote Suzanne Arundale on X (formerly Twitter). “I am [heartbreak emoji]. Can someone please make this go away.”
She later added, “Coach, I was planning to get a group together to send you a 90th birthday video…We love you.”
In addition to the 2024 Preakness and 14 additional Triple Crown wins, Lukas won three Travers Stakes in Saratoga, and stabled horses at his Union Avenue D. Wayne Lukas Racing Stable. He also traveled here for his Hall of Fame induction in 1999. After the Belmont last year, he spent time at the Spa off and on throughout the summer meet, before announcing he would remain in Kentucky for 2025.
In interviews, it was clear that Lukas had a special place in his heart for the Spa.
“It’s been a good time up here…They always say that New Yorkers are a little coarse and cold, but I don’t feel it in Saratoga,” Lukas told sportswriter Mike Kane on his 89th birthday last September 2, in a video posted to X the same day. “I enjoy getting on the horse every day,” he added, cane in hand.
“Our first year in Saratoga, the two of us played him Happy Birthday,” shared the Saratoga Buglers, father and son Tony and Carson Gambaro, on Instagram. “We couldn’t be more honored to have celebrated one of his final birthday on Earth with him. Rest in Peace, Coach.”
Barbara D. Livingston, chief photographer for Daily Racing Form, took to X to share Lukas memories and photos for hours on Saturday, including a 2016 picture of him with his fifth wife, Laurie. “It was always heartwarming to watch them together,” Livingston wrote.
Lukas’ only son died in 2016 at the age of 58. In addition to Laurie, he is survived by two grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, sister Dauna Lukas Moths, and brother Lowell Lukas.
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