One of the most influential trainers in racing history talks about his 15th success in a Triple Crown race – and how he rejected calls to replace jockey Jaime Torres with a bigger name before the Pimlico Classic
D Wayne Lukas rolled back the years on Saturday to land a surprise Preakness Stakes victory with front-running Seize The Grey, who splashed through the mud at Pimlico for a popular success.
At 88, Lukas is the oldest trainer ever to win a Triple Crown race – and this was his 15th such victory overall, and his seventh in the Preakness, which he first won in 1980 with Codex.
Seize The Grey is owned by the MyRacehorse syndicate (with more than 2,700 members), and he was ridden by Jaime Torres. Though the 25-year-old was last year’s leading apprentice in New York, he totally lacked experience at the top level; indeed, he had ridden his first winner as recently as September 2022.
After the race, Lukas – known as ‘Coach’ owing to his background as a former teacher and basketball coach – reflected on the latest high-profile victory of a garlanded career.
The last one is always the sweetest
It doesn’t get old; it’s still the same. In 1980 I had the first one here I ever ran, and it still feels the same – in fact, the last one is always the sweetest. The last girl you dance with is the one you take home.
The thing about it is every time we’ve been lucky to win one of these that it’s been with a different client, and so that is what makes it special. The one before that was a different client, different client.
That's what makes this one special – 2,735 owners. Isn’t that something, to make that many people happy? It’s a helluva concept. It really is. To see that many people happy in racing is really special. I’m happy, but I love the fact I could make them happy. That’s what I get paid for, to let them live the dream. Looking around and everybody hugging – itv was really chaotic.
One of the things that was very significant to me today – and maybe its because I’m getting a little bit older – but as I came out of the grandstand and out across the racetrack, every one of the guys that were in that race stopped and hugged me and give me a handshake. That meant more to me than any single thing. Baffert, Kenny McPeek, right down the line.
There’s something about the Preakness, the intensity and the attention and everything between the trainers and everything drops down a little bit. By putting us all in the same barn, sharing the same locker room and everything, the camaraderie comes together a lot more with the other trainers and everything.
So this place becomes special. And I can speak, I think, for Bob Baffert – I’m only one behind him; I warned him already. This place has been a lot of fun for all of us. It really has.
A lot of talent
He [Jaime Torres, jockey] rode a few horses for me at Churchill and rode a few just general horses, nothing real special. I thought he had a lot of talent and I loved working with him, but I really feel good about taking him to this level.
A couple of weeks ago he rode one not so pretty, and I followed him all the way through the tunnel, all the way up the steps to the jocks’ room, and I chewed him out. I said: ‘you’ll be back in Puerto Rico picking oranges if you’re going to ride like that!’
I know that when he turned for home, that was echoing in his ears – that he’d better get down and scrubbing because I think it really hit home.
I had phone calls from about six agents that after he won the Pat Day Mile, it’s a tough business because they said, well, you know, you’re not going to…you’re going to change riders for the big one, aren’t you? I said, not a chance. He’s staying right there.
Now, I didn’t ask Mike [owners’ representative Michael Behrens]. I didn’t ask the 2,700 people whether we should ride him, but he rode him so well – he rode him once before and won on him, and then again in the Pat Day Mile was the second win on him, and this was now the third. He obviously fits the horse.
I’m going to push you
I don’t get into the mechanics of riding so much, but I get into I want them to dedicate themselves beyond. I want him to be better than he thinks he can be. I always push that to him. I’m going to push you. I want you to do more than you actually think you can do and I want you to be better than you think you can be. I want you to really, really dedicate yourself.
If you don’t do that, get a job bagging groceries at the grocery store, because this is a tough, tough business and very competitive. I have to represent a number of owners, so when I put him on, I’m making a commitment that he’s okay.
We didn't have any strategy per se. I think you
can over-coach a little bit on these riders. I didn’t want to – especially Jaime. If I had told him I wanted you to lay third or fourth or back mid-pack or something, as bad as I chewed his ass the first time, I think he’d have probably tried to do that. And here all of a sudden he breaks, and he’s on the lead cruising.
But when he got on that lead cruising, what happens as a trainer, you study these horses in the morning and you get a feel for their motion and how they’re getting over the ground. When you watch those races, it gets analytical for you. You start thinking, is he handling it pretty well? Is he getting over the ground like he normally does, or is he struggling?
I thought his action was perfect, although I was concerned this morning about the weather like so many. Mystik Dan ran such a sensational race in the mud at Arkansas that I told Baffert: ‘We’re going to have hell beating him today. With this track, it fits him to a ‘T’, and we’re going to have trouble with him because of that.’
I thought the gods of racing were helping him. But I knew Seize The Grey was dead-fit after coming off of the Pat Day Mile. I love that prep. I actually gave Just Steel a mile work before the Kentucky Derby also.
We’d have been running in the Derby if we’d have had the points, I could say that – but we can’t double enter in Kentucky. So if we’d have entered the Derby and ended up 21st, which we would have, we wouldn’t have been able to run in the Pat Day Mile.
Really, really special
So Mike and I had to make a decision to skip the Derby, go to the Pat Day Mile, or we wouldn’t have run anywhere. We’d have had to sit the whole Saturday out. I firmly believe that the Pat Day Mile put us in position to win this.
When he hit the half-mile pole, I turned to my wife Laura, and I said, ‘watch out, we’re home free’. I knew they were going to run at us, but I thought we had a great chance to dictate the race from the half-mile home. It is really, really special.
That’s what gets me up in the morning. I just told the ESPN reporter we’ve got outstanding two-year-olds. We are loaded next year, and I’m already looking forward to them.
I can't wait to get home and start breezing them. Watch out for Saratoga; we’re going to be awful tough.
That's what it's all about, getting up and if you have a passion you eliminate all the excuses. That’s how it works. You get up early. You go without a meal. You drive. You go without sleep. As long as you got the passion.
Don’t let that sofa pull you down. It’s a little easy when that alarm goes off to say, oh, my God, I don’t know if I really want to do this today. Erase that.
The most important decision you’ll ever make in your life is your attitude decision. Make it early and make the right one.
• D Wayne Lukas was speaking in the post-race press conference
• Visit the Preakness Stakes website
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