When the news reached horse racing publications that D. Wayne Lukas was facing serious health issues and elected to refuse aggressive treatment so he could live out his remaining time with his family,  it was the day after a multitude of my own family members and I had gathered for a memorial service for my grandmother.

She too had chosen not to pursue aggressive treatment, given her age and that the chance of success was limited and the side effects would be harsh. 

Perhaps people born in 1935, as she and Lukas were, shared similarities shaped by the time they grew up in. While my grandmother didn’t live a high-profile life to the wider world like Lukas did, I can see some parallels in the lives they lived.  One of those was the differences they made in people’s lives that will ripple outward beyond their lifespans. For Lukas, it was in the assistants he mentored who went on to be trainers, and how he was open to giving young people access to racing, to potentially instill the love of it to the next generation. For my grandma, it was through the many people she helped in her career as a social worker, a profession that was definitely her calling, and in her steadfast love for her family.

Bob Baffert described Lukas as an optimist. That was in my grandma’s nature too. She was stoic and determined, and grew up in the same challenging time Lukas did, during part of the Great Depression and through World War II. There were significant challenges during that time for sure, and some deprivation, yet I never heard my grandma complain about it or her life in general. The closest I ever heard her come to complaining was saying she would never eat turnips again for the time when that was one of the few foods her family could get, and she never had a taste for them.

Lukas also carried a determination that saw him rise to the top of racing’s ranks, and as many have mentioned,  change the nature of the sport in his own way, a way that other trainers emulated. 

He was not without controversy over the years, to be sure,  but he still carried on, and this is not the space to address that.

I would rather share some of my own perceptions of him, and how he evoked a sense of awe for his accomplishments.

When I started watching horse racing on TV in my childhood, Lukas had already become a major force in the racing world. It was inevitable to learn about him. I watched my share of kids’ shows, but in some ways I also grew up watching stellar horses of the late ’80s and early to mid 1990s, as well as the trainers that dominated the sport during those years and beyond. 

That meant when I finally went to Kentucky, I was in awe to stand near and interact with the horses I’d only seen on TV before that. As I’ve recounted before,  that was all it took for me to know Kentucky was where I wanted to live. 

It was several years after I moved there that I first was in proximity to Mr. Lukas. I had gone up to Turfway Park from Lexington and at one point as I stood on a balcony near some stairs leading to the ground level, Lukas also came along and stood right by me for a few moments.  The “pinch-me” feeling was in full effect, much as it had been when I couldn’t believe I was standing near and feeding a peppermint to Charismatic during my first visit to Lane’s End.  Yet it was even stronger with Mr. Lukas standing nearby. His level of achievements in racing at that point had easily catapulted him to legend status long before,  and in some ways it felt like standing in the presence of racing royalty. He never considered himself as such, I’d wager, but at that moment that’s how it felt to me.

I read later he would invite kids into the winner’s circle after a horse from his stable won, doing all he could to help the next generation potentially foster an interest in racing. I’m sure he would have been glad to speak to me that day at Turfway,  but it never occurred to me. I’m not even sure what I would have said. It was enough to be there. 

A few years after that, I was in Saratoga to write for the Saratoga Special. I had a great assignment that gave me free rein to talk to a multitude of people on the backside. 

I found an opportunity came my way to speak to Lukas, and I grabbed it. I’ll never forget how gracious and charming he was in that brief interaction. I’ve had limited opportunities (not for lack of enthusiasm) to be professionally involved in racing, so even a short time to speak to one of racing’s greats stands out in my memory.

When Mr. Lukas donated a lot of his trophies to the Derby Museum, so many that they built a separate wing for them, it was a concrete example of the mark he made on racing, a visual right before the eyes of all who visit.  For me, it also showcased how racing trophies can reveal some of the very history of racing.

Of course, his legacy lingers deeper than trophies. It is in all the trainers he mentored,  and in the way his mode of operations generally became a standard in the larger stables trainers have.

And for me, it is in two more ways. It is in the inspiration I found in seeing him realize a pinnacle with both Oxbow and Seize the Grey in the twilight years of his racing career. That speaks to me, to see there’s no time limit on success if the desire and work ethic are there.

The other way his legacy lingers to me is with a horse that won’t even be a footnote in Mr. Lukas’ illustrious career, but stands out to me. Through MyRacehorse, I was able to invest in Caldera, a young colt that Lukas tried to steer to the Kentucky Derby this year. While that didn’t pan out,  he was still one of the last horses Lukas trained, and it meant a lot to me to hear his insights about him and the way he wanted to train him. 

I seem to recall Lukas once said he’d die on the track with his pony beneath him,  and when I told that to my mom, she said it meant he would go doing what he loved.

As the years advanced, Lukas did indeed keep accompanying his charges to the track on his pony, and it actually seemed incongruous when he started using a cane to walk. Even knowing his age,  his vibrant personality made it seem at odds. 

As a side note, that was how it was in my grandma’s later years too. She was such a fighter, so determined, to see age show its mark didn’t quite compute.

D. Wayne Lukas really did come close to staying at the track until the end, only walking away a few weeks before he passed peacefully with his family at his side on June 28.

I know from the vigil at my grandma’s side in her last days, it is hard to watch a loved one fade away, but it is also a gift to be able to surround them with love as they pass through the transition out of this life. 

Over time, I hope his family and all who knew him personally find peace in the memories. I know that takes time.

Tonight, I noticed a sunflower growing where I had tried to plant one several times from a seed I harvested from flowers I grew in Kentucky. It had been growing for quite a while when I saw it this evening, since it was tucked away by a bush and the tall remnants of a tree trunk.

Sometimes,  even when life feels a little heavy, it has ways of showing us the beauty in it. I hope one day, when they’ve had time for their grief to ebb a little,  Lukas’ family sees that too.

Rest in peace to a towering legend of the sport. I know his legacy will endure.