Skip to playerSkip to main content
thoroughbreddailynews
  • 6 months ago
On this week's TDN Writers' Room, we pay tribute to D. Wayne Lukas. Friends and mentees, including Todd Pletcher, Bob Baffert, Kiaran McLaughlin and Gary Stevens, share their favorite memories and stories of 'The Coach.'

Category

🥇
Sports
Transcript
00:00:00For the love of the worse, for generations to come.
00:00:23Welcome to another edition of the TDN Writer's Room.
00:00:31I'm Zoe Catman with First Racing and First TV, filling in for Bill.
00:00:35Bill, get well soon, feel better.
00:00:37Bill is in for surgery right now and will be rejoining us next week.
00:00:41Hi, I'm Randy Moss with NBC Sports and the Buyer's Speed Figure team.
00:00:47TD Thornton speaking to you from a little bit north of Boston today.
00:00:50I'm a correspondent with TDN.
00:00:53All right, guys.
00:00:54Well, today we celebrate the life of D. Wayne Lucas.
00:00:58Born in 1935, we can all simply say that D. Wayne revolutionized the business of horse racing.
00:01:05He traded pitchforks for mobile phones.
00:01:08They were about the same size back then, guys.
00:01:10He traded horse boxes for horse planes and blue jeans for Armani suits.
00:01:15But I think something that's been lost in the shuffle is that he was truly a consummate horseman.
00:01:22Yes, he did perhaps push the envelope just a few times.
00:01:26But in order to be a Hall of Fame trainer, you have to know exactly what envelope to push.
00:01:32And D. Wayne truly knew that.
00:01:34Today throughout the show, we will sprinkle guests throughout the show.
00:01:38It could take us two weeks, but unfortunately, we don't have two weeks.
00:01:42The guests include Hall of Famers, Todd Pletcher, Bob Baffert, Jerry Bailey, Gary Stevens.
00:01:48We'll also have Ron Moquette, John Bellinger, Kieran McLaughlin, and Christina Bossinakis.
00:01:54Looks like a star-studded team, right?
00:01:56And we're joined now by Kieran McLaughlin, who was a protege of D. Wayne Lucas, retired trainer of his own right, and currently the jockey agent for John Velasquez and Luis Saez.
00:02:10Kieran, you're joining us just as you pulled into Saratoga for the season.
00:02:14Welcome to the show.
00:02:15Thank you very much.
00:02:17Take us back.
00:02:18Let's start at the beginning.
00:02:19Tell us how old you were and how you first ended up under D. Wayne Lucas' shed row and what your first impressions were of the man.
00:02:29I met him, Arletti and I met him in 1984 at Arlington Park when he shipped in Lucky, Lucky, Lucky.
00:02:36And from there, it was like September, and we stayed in touch, and finally he hired me in January of 85 to go to California.
00:02:46So we drove seven days from Miami.
00:02:51We were in Miami then, and went to work for him at Santa Anita in 1985, February.
00:02:59What was one of your first impressions of arriving after spending seven days driving across the country to land at D. Wayne Lucas' barn at Santa Anita?
00:03:09Well, the first thing was he told me to meet him at four o'clock at the donut shop.
00:03:15I said, four o'clock?
00:03:16What do we do at four o'clock?
00:03:18And in walked Noble Threewit and Willard Proctor, and we grabbed a coffee and donut, and we were out of there before four o'clock.
00:03:29I got there a little early, and we drove to the barn at four, and it was dark.
00:03:35And I wondered what we were going to do that early, but it was the set list.
00:03:40He waited to the day of morning of to do the set list in case it rained, and he had to change something.
00:03:47So we looked at the horses.
00:03:49They were walking, and we talked at four in the morning.
00:03:53And for the next seven years, it was four in the morning.
00:03:56Get up and go to work.
00:03:57But it was the landscaping, probably, and the quality of horses that got me the first day or two.
00:04:05I mean, with the trees there and the flowers there, it was beautiful.
00:04:10He took some harassment from some people.
00:04:13I brought up Willard Proctor.
00:04:15I think he said, this guy, this isn't landscaping.
00:04:19This is horse training.
00:04:20So we'll see how long he lasts.
00:04:22But that was a lot of what people thought and talked about back then.
00:04:27Yeah, there was a lot of animosity towards somebody who came in from the quarter horse world and was such an immediate success.
00:04:35So seven years with Wayne and Jeff at the time.
00:04:40We can't overlook Jeff.
00:04:44What was he like?
00:04:45Give us an idea what he was like as a boss.
00:04:49He was demanding.
00:04:51And I have another famous story about you don't want to be late.
00:04:55And one day I lived in San Dimas.
00:04:58So it was a 40-minute drive to Hollywood Park.
00:05:02And my alarm didn't go off because the electricity went off.
00:05:08And I got up and I got there about 20 minutes late.
00:05:13And he was on the pony heading to the track.
00:05:16And I said, Wayne, I'm so sorry the electricity went off.
00:05:19I will get more alarm clocks and it'll never happen again.
00:05:24And he didn't say anything, but I knew it better not happen again.
00:05:27So I went and bought three alarm clocks.
00:05:30Wind up, plug in, whatever.
00:05:32And I was never late again.
00:05:34Karen, we've had so many different guests on the show today sharing their recollections and
00:05:43remembrances of D. Wayne.
00:05:44And, you know, he's portrayed as a driving, laser-focused trainer.
00:05:49However, that may be true.
00:05:52But he also didn't last five decades, six decades of the game without changing his ways to some
00:05:58degree.
00:05:59And even after you left his employment and you continued on as friends and you were a
00:06:03trainer and later as a jockey agent, you know, part of his legacy is that he rolled and changed
00:06:10with the times, too.
00:06:11And how did you see that playing out?
00:06:13I saw it play out very well.
00:06:15He was always positive and always thought about the next crop of babies and going to do, you
00:06:21know, win the derby.
00:06:22But he was a little tough on us agents sometimes.
00:06:24And, you know, he yelled at me a few times about thought he had a call with me and he
00:06:29didn't have a call.
00:06:31But going back to the beginning, I have a couple of good stories that says a lot about
00:06:36him.
00:06:37When Lenny and I were in California, he asked us to go to New York and be the assistant
00:06:44there at Belmont.
00:06:46And I said, OK.
00:06:47So he said, are you have flights all set?
00:06:51I said, yeah, your secretary got us first class flights from Los Angeles to New York.
00:06:57He did everything first class.
00:06:59He said, oh, cancel those flights.
00:07:01He said, you can take my private jet.
00:07:04As assistant trainers, 25 years old, Laddie and I got on his private jet with our cat and
00:07:12stuff and flew all the way to New York, stopping Omaha for gas and then going on to New York.
00:07:20But the weather was bad.
00:07:21So we had to land in New Jersey, got a limousine, took us to Garden City, New York, 105 Jackson
00:07:28Street, which we bought off of him in 1992.
00:07:32And we're just coming from 105 Jackson Street right now.
00:07:36So we still own his house.
00:07:38But he just took such good care of us.
00:07:41And back in those days, he had a helicopter also.
00:07:45And the helicopter would land at Hollywood Park in the training track, pick up six jockeys
00:07:52or four jockeys, and we would helicopter down to Del Mar and work the babies.
00:07:58It wasn't Del Mar.
00:07:59It was the training center that he bought with Mr. Kline and Bill Barnes there that Bill
00:08:06Gates owns now.
00:08:07But it was really neat to get in the helicopter and go down the coast, get off, work horses
00:08:12and fly back.
00:08:14So those days were amazing.
00:08:17So many stories, so many successes.
00:08:20But didn't he fail at one thing with you, something that you never really mastered?
00:08:26Yeah, a lot of things.
00:08:27I couldn't ride a pony.
00:08:29My handwriting wasn't very good.
00:08:31So a lot of things.
00:08:32But I seemed to last, being that I got up every day on time and we had great success.
00:08:39I mean, one other story that says a lot about him to me is he came to New York.
00:08:45He's at the Garden City Hotel.
00:08:47And we had two runners at Aqueduct that afternoon.
00:08:50We went to Aqueduct.
00:08:51I took him back to the Garden City Hotel.
00:08:54And I said, Wayne, we have two in at the Meadowlands tonight.
00:08:57Do you want to go?
00:08:59Yeah, what time?
00:09:00I said, I'll pick you up at 7 o'clock.
00:09:02So I picked him up at 7 o'clock.
00:09:04We went to the Meadowlands.
00:09:05And about, we walked up to go into the Meadowlands.
00:09:09And he didn't have a New Jersey license.
00:09:11So they wouldn't let him in.
00:09:14And he turned and says, where do I pay?
00:09:16He paid $5 and just walked in.
00:09:19Didn't say another word.
00:09:21I was mad.
00:09:22But he didn't say another word.
00:09:24We're driving home and we're on the George Washington Bridge about midnight.
00:09:29And he looked at me and said, Karen, you can't do this.
00:09:33If we're going to send horses to the Meadowlands and the owners are going to pay $300 to van them over there, they can pay for a limousine to take you down there to saddle them.
00:09:44So for the next month or so, we had a limousine come pick Laddie and I up to go to the Meadowlands.
00:09:51So he definitely took good care of us.
00:09:54Limousine may be courtesy of Eugene Klein or W.T. Young.
00:09:59Yes, correct.
00:10:00But he took good care of us.
00:10:02Yeah.
00:10:03It's all his help.
00:10:04So it's inevitable, you know, that when anyone gets to be 89 years old, 88, in their 80s, they're going to slow down a little bit or something's going to change.
00:10:16Personality is going to change.
00:10:17What did you see?
00:10:19Compare Wayne back in the days when he was the most driven to what you saw from Wayne in his later years.
00:10:27Was he more content?
00:10:28He was pretty much still after it.
00:10:31And like I said, every I was fortunate enough to go see him every day up here at Saratoga.
00:10:36I made a point to go see him and talk to him.
00:10:40And he couldn't talk about if I don't have three in next year's Kentucky Derby, I'm doing a bad job.
00:10:46I got this.
00:10:46And he just always was talking about buying yearlings, having horses for the Kentucky Derby and nothing slowed him down.
00:10:54He just kept going and he was always there.
00:10:57First one there.
00:10:58Karen, before we let you go, we're going to ask you to sum up D. Wayne Lucas, if you can, in one word.
00:11:06An icon, legend, changed our industry.
00:11:11And I would just like to pass all my prayers and thoughts to Lori, Brady and Kelly.
00:11:16So now as we continue our D. Wayne Lucas conversation, let's bring in John Bellinger, the B in BC stables with partner Brian Coelho, who did so much to rejuvenate the Lucas barn over the past five years or so.
00:11:33So, John, you knew Wayne beforehand, but when you and Brian decided to really get into the business in a big way, you chose an 86-year-old trainer.
00:11:45When that trainer was almost trying to convince you to go to a younger guy instead of him.
00:11:52What led to that decision to put all your chips in with Wayne Lucas?
00:12:00Well, first off, I'm not sure he ever tried to convince me to go with a younger guy.
00:12:07That's not Wayne's style.
00:12:09I know that's a story Wayne might have brought up.
00:12:11But, you know, to answer your question, the more you got to know Wayne Lucas, and I didn't know any other trainer.
00:12:21I met Wayne Lucas through a very good friend, Dr. Charlie Graham.
00:12:26At one point, he was one of the best equine veterinarians in the country, and Charlie introduced me to Wayne.
00:12:32And, you know, how could you not go with an icon who still had the energy level, who still had the optimism, the massive amount of experience of whether it's racing, whether it's buying horses, taking care of the horses, et cetera.
00:12:54It was an easy decision.
00:12:56You know, we're all going to leave this earth at some point.
00:12:59It was inevitable.
00:13:00I didn't think it'd be quite this quick.
00:13:03But, you know, there was no doubt in our minds, Brian or my mind, we're going with Wayne Lucas.
00:13:11John, you speak of that energy and that aura around D-Wayne.
00:13:17And as we've been doing this remembrance show for the coach, we've had so many people, so many guests on telling us how he revitalized or jump-started or kick-started their careers or even aspects of their private lives by being around him.
00:13:31But you, by going into partnership with him as an owner-trainer-client relationship, you had the unique opportunity to send it the other way with BC Stables.
00:13:42And it's been said that when the BC Partnership started buying horses four or five years ago at the behest of D-Wayne, you kind of got to revitalize him a little bit and send the karma back his way.
00:13:56Like, can you talk about that a little bit, please?
00:13:59Yeah, you know, I really wasn't aware of the lack of vitalization of Wayne prior to going in.
00:14:10But, yeah, it's clear that whether it was us or the timing of Wayne, the combination, but Wayne still had it in him.
00:14:24Look, we, in two years, in our second set of horses, our first set of horses, we had Summer Promise and Bourbon Bash, two very good horses, did very well.
00:14:34Bourbon Bash is about to go back on track racing.
00:14:37In the second year, with Just Steel, we're in the Derby in the Preakness.
00:14:43In the third year, we're in the Derby in the Preakness with American Promise.
00:14:47I mean, there was no doubt in my mind that we were with the right guy.
00:14:54You know, someone asked me when Just Steel went into the Derby, you know, surely you're going to move to another trainer after this year.
00:15:01You know, he's 88 years old, and I said, you know what, I'm going to be sitting at the Derby, and there's about 10,000 other owners that are sitting at home watching the Derby.
00:15:12So, you know, I think we're in the right spot with Wayne Lucas.
00:15:15So, you and Brian both, John, have commented about how when you chose Wayne Lucas to train your horses, it was almost for a dual purpose, not just because of his past record and not because of his ability with horses and et cetera, et cetera.
00:15:33But you were new to the sport, and it was also a learning experience for you to sort of pick the brain of Lucas and to sit next to him in those mornings and listen to his wisdom.
00:15:46Can you discuss that a little bit?
00:15:49Yeah, it's priceless.
00:15:53Wayne was not one to be short on words.
00:15:55And he's a very proud guy that loved to talk about the past and the present and the future because he's an eternal optimist.
00:16:08You know, whether it was sitting in our room at Keeneland buying horses, the three of us, Laurie usually sat in also, or whether it was sitting at, you know, in Oak Lawn or Saratoga or Churchill, it didn't matter.
00:16:25But sitting in his office, closing the door and sitting in his office and reminiscing about the past, about, you know, what he'd done, who he'd worked with.
00:16:38Now, the four years that I obtained a PhD in horse racing from Wayne Lucas, he was the coach, he was the professor.
00:16:49He prepped us for the next step in going forward in racing, and every moment was so special.
00:16:58And you mentioned his optimistic quality that he imparted, and it kind of glowed off of him.
00:17:03And that's really something that's in short supply these days.
00:17:06I mean, by the nature of what's going on in the world and the racing world, a lot of us are realists.
00:17:12And D. Wayne put a different spin on things.
00:17:15He was always kind of looking forward and promoting that optimism.
00:17:20No doubt about it.
00:17:22There's probably some races we shouldn't have been in with some horses because of his optimism.
00:17:28But, you know, you take those with the good.
00:17:31And, you know, Wayne was, he knew his time was limited.
00:17:39And Brian and I became such good friends with Wayne, he wanted us to win one of the Triple Crown races so bad.
00:17:49And he probably pushed things a little bit more because he knew his time was limited, and he wanted to get us a win.
00:17:57And, you know, when Wayne was in the hospital, Laurie told me this story.
00:18:03When they were trying to decide whether to go hospice or multiple surgeries with little chance of survival, Wayne said,
00:18:12I'm not going to do the surgeries.
00:18:14I'm going to go with hospice.
00:18:16And the only regret I have is that I didn't get Brian and John a win in the Triple Crown.
00:18:22Oh, man.
00:18:23And that was a really special moment.
00:18:29And, you know, if I had the opportunity to tell Wayne something, what he gave us was four years of invaluable friendship.
00:18:41And we'll never forget it.
00:18:43The TVN Writer's Room is brought to you by Keeneland.
00:18:48Keeneland joins the racing industry in mourning the loss of D. Wayne Lucas.
00:18:52Keeneland president and CEO Shannon Arvin had the following to say.
00:18:57Since buying his first horse here in 1977, he influenced yearling sales through his emphasis on confirmation and body type,
00:19:06while affecting the way horses were bred and prepped to produce yearlings that would appeal to him.
00:19:12After Wayne won his first Keeneland race in 1980, he set numerous records during our spring and fall meets and across the country,
00:19:21with the powerful stables of runners, many of which he and his clients had purchased right here at Keeneland.
00:19:27On behalf of Keeneland, we extend our deepest condolences to Wayne's wife, Laurie, and his entire family.
00:19:35It all comes down to this.
00:19:40Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
00:19:41The moment that defines the year.
00:19:43When the world's most influential buyers gather.
00:19:47And every decision, every bid, every opportunity shapes the future.
00:19:54At a marketplace that brings the thoroughbred world together.
00:19:57And where futures are forged.
00:20:00Because every moment matters.
00:20:02At the world's yearling sale, Keeneland, September.
00:20:07The fastest horse of the week this week is brought to you by Constitution, one of those fast sires at Windstar Farm.
00:20:15And there's some synergy in the fastest horse of the week this time around.
00:20:18Because the fastest horse happens to be Mindframe, the winner of Saturday star-studded Stephen Foster steaks at Churchill Downs.
00:20:26And the sire of Mindframe just happens to be Constitution.
00:20:32In the Stephen Foster, Mindframe recorded a career-high buyer speed figure of 105 in defeating what was arguably the deepest field assembled thus far in 2025 in the two-turn older male division.
00:20:43Mindframe beat Kentucky Derby winner Mystic Dan, Breeders' Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone, and Dubai World Cup winner Hit Show.
00:20:51And it was the second career grade one win for Mindframe, who now has an expenses-paid berth in the Breeders' Cup Classic.
00:20:58Trainer Todd Pletcher said Mindframe will most likely run next to Saratoga in the August the 2nd Whitney and could be rematched in the Whitney against his stablemate, Fierceness, with Sierra Leone, also a likely Whitney runner.
00:21:12Meanwhile, Constitution continues to churn out the runners.
00:21:16He was a top-five sire in North America last year.
00:21:18He's among the top-five again this year.
00:21:21And Constitution stands at Windstar Farm for $110,000.
00:21:30All right, and now we're joined by trainer Ron Moquette, who was around Wayne quite a lot in Kentucky,
00:21:36but especially in Wayne's later years as a fixture at Oaklawn Park, where Ron and Wayne got to know each other very, very well over the years.
00:21:47So being around Wayne a lot in those later years on a daily basis, when Wayne was sort of like the favorite uncle to everybody in the horse racing business,
00:22:00what was it like for you to be around Wayne during that period of his career?
00:22:05You know, I read Jay Pridman's article, and I thought that was pretty cool.
00:22:10It talked about how he used to be known as being arrogant and kind of, you know, brash and stuff.
00:22:18And you could definitely see that a little bit.
00:22:21I loved the camaraderie he had with a lot of the guys on the racetrack.
00:22:25He'd give us a hard time, and we loved it.
00:22:28But he was always there to help, too.
00:22:31And if he said something, it was never like, you ought to be better at this, or you should do this.
00:22:37It wasn't any dig at you.
00:22:40It was coming from a spot of wanting to help you.
00:22:45Ron, I read in the past couple of days you shared a story.
00:22:49I saw it on social media about a time prior to an Oaklawn meet when D-Wayne asked you to accompany him to a Chamber of Commerce evening function.
00:23:01And you reluctantly went, and it was kind of an interesting evening.
00:23:04Tell us about that, please.
00:23:06Well, Wayne is confident.
00:23:08No matter what, that's who he was, who he is.
00:23:11You know, he was just confident.
00:23:12And he wanted me, he kept giving me a hard time about, you know, they're never going to come to your barn and give you a horse.
00:23:19You have to be out, and the people you want to train need to see you and see that you're, you know, you're not a groom.
00:23:25You're somebody that's capable of handling their investments.
00:23:28And they need you to, you'd be around them one-on-one in a setting to where you don't have poultice and horse manure all over you.
00:23:36So you need to do these kind of things.
00:23:38And I think the whole reason he was selling me this was halfway to help me and halfway to, because he didn't have the address to the place we was going.
00:23:46But he asked me to ride with him.
00:23:49And I was like, yeah, yeah, I probably will.
00:23:52But then I never really thought I would.
00:23:55And then he called me 30 minutes before he was coming to get me and said, hey, I'm going.
00:24:02I said, man, it's been sweeping and icing all day.
00:24:05I don't even know if they're going to have it.
00:24:06Is the roads open?
00:24:07And he said, I haven't heard or not, but we're headed that direction.
00:24:11I'll be there in 15 minutes.
00:24:14So I'd get dressed and get ready.
00:24:16And he pulls up and honks and I run out there and we take off and he's got a lot of tools in his battle, but caution isn't one when it comes to driving.
00:24:26And he took off like the roads were crystal clear and there wasn't any ice or sleet or whatever.
00:24:34He just drove like a maniac all the way there on the on the side of the roads and everywhere.
00:24:39So we got there and he was the keynote speaker and he, he, I was in awe.
00:24:46I was amazed.
00:24:46And anybody that was there and you'll, there'll be some people that's listening to this that was there.
00:24:51That speech was just next level.
00:24:53It was inspiring.
00:24:55It was, it was everything the coach is.
00:24:58And it had everybody there leaving, ready to go invest time and energy and focus on trying to try to win good races.
00:25:06And then coming home, I'm a little more scared because now it's dark and we're going over these non-prepped Arkansas roads with ice.
00:25:18And now he can see, I'm just, I'm petrified.
00:25:21And he looks at, he says, you don't have to relax.
00:25:24And I was like, Wayne, I don't want to die.
00:25:27And he goes, he goes, he started laughing.
00:25:29Why are you so worried about dying?
00:25:31I said, well, I definitely don't want to die here.
00:25:32Not with you.
00:25:33And he said, well, why is that?
00:25:35I said, because the headlines tomorrow would read world famous hall of fame trainer, Dwayne Lucas and passenger killed in a car wreck.
00:25:43I said, they won't even say my name.
00:25:46And he started laughing and, and it got us the rest of the way home.
00:25:50And then the next day at the track, he wrote up and said, Hey, Ron, tell them that story.
00:25:56Tell them what you said.
00:25:57And then we'd be around some people at the, at the race track and say that story.
00:26:02He loved it.
00:26:02And the punchline, he giggled before the punchline every time because, you know, it was true, which makes good comedy.
00:26:11But, uh, well, he loved the fact of me saying that.
00:26:14So many stories surrounding Wayne, and I actually just heard one the other day that absolutely made me laugh my ass off.
00:26:25And you told it about winning the Southwest with far right and about a phone call.
00:26:30Can you recount that for us, Ron?
00:26:32Yeah, so there were several of those like that, but he, he had a horse that was second in the race.
00:26:41I think with, uh, his name was Mr. Z and so he comes up and congratulates me and I'm pumped up because that's a key race.
00:26:52That means you legitimately should think about the Derby.
00:26:55And, um, we're in the, um, we're in the test barn and he comes down there to check on his horse and he pulls up and he kind of gives me the old, the old come here finger.
00:27:04And he says, Hey, come here.
00:27:05I want to tell you something.
00:27:07I said, what?
00:27:07He said, man, I'm very happy for you.
00:27:10You've worked hard.
00:27:10You deserve to be here.
00:27:12Congratulations.
00:27:12That's a nice horse.
00:27:14It's a good purse.
00:27:15Your owner should be happy.
00:27:16You should be thrilled.
00:27:17I said, thank you.
00:27:18He said, but Ron, remember one Robin don't make it spring.
00:27:23And then he just rolled his tenant window up and drove on.
00:27:29And it was the delivery.
00:27:31It wasn't just the word.
00:27:32It was the delivery and how he did it.
00:27:35He just kind of feathered me in there and then knocked me out.
00:27:41Later on that year, we're at Ohio and we're in the, um, the Ohio Derby.
00:27:48And he sits right beside his horse the entire time we're, we're down, we're like eight stalls away.
00:27:56So everyone comes to see Lucas.
00:27:59They all visit and he, um, he comes down and says, says the, Hey Ron, what are you doing this for?
00:28:08Why are you doing this?
00:28:09That's unnecessary.
00:28:10Focus your energy on this and just give me a whole how to.
00:28:12And then he goes out there and wins the race.
00:28:14So afterwards he sends somebody up that drives his van says, tell Ron to stop by.
00:28:19I need to see him real quick.
00:28:20So I run in there and he's, he's sitting there where he was before the race.
00:28:26And he walks out there to, to me as I'm driving the truck and trailer.
00:28:31I've got my horse loaded.
00:28:32And he says, um, here, I got something I want to give you.
00:28:36And it was, uh, he tore a, a carnation off this blanket.
00:28:40And he said, when you win these kind, they give you these.
00:28:44And I just, I just, he patted me on the back and then I just took off and I just, it's
00:28:54an honor to have him joke around with me.
00:28:57It was great to see that side of his personality, but, uh, and I'm not alone.
00:29:02Everybody's got these stories.
00:29:04You could go forever.
00:29:05And, uh, I was, I am thankful that he was kind enough to, uh, to feel at ease enough
00:29:13to joke with me and, and, and honor to have known him.
00:29:18Retired hall of fame, jockey, Jerry Bailey now joins us as we continue with our recollections
00:29:24and remembrances and a celebration of the life of Dwayne Lucas.
00:29:27Jerry, thank you for taking the time to join us today.
00:29:31Um, I was, as I was researching some questions to ask you.
00:29:35It struck me that early on in your career, um, I know you, you're known for your association
00:29:40with riding grindstone, the 1996 Derby winner.
00:29:43And I know you wrote a couple of breeders cup winners for Dwayne, but essentially you
00:29:47guys were competing geographically on opposite sides of the country.
00:29:51Were your first interactions with Dwayne as a competitor before you got to ride for him
00:29:55and tell me what that was like, please.
00:29:58Well, my first interaction with Lucas was when I was a kid in New Mexico at Rio del
00:30:02So Downs, uh, I grew up in West Texas and we used to go up to Rio del So every summer.
00:30:07My dad owned some horses and Wayne was up there training.
00:30:10And I never remember meeting him, but I remember where his barn was.
00:30:15And Wayne's been called a lot of things, a lot of nicknames, rhinestone cowboy.
00:30:19Uh, but he had a nickname back then called Mr. Clean because he had a vacuum between every
00:30:27other stall of the horses.
00:30:29And before they would go up to the paddock, because he was betting on sawdust as everybody
00:30:33was, he would take the vacuum and suck all the dust off of them before they went to the
00:30:37paddock.
00:30:38And he got the nickname, Mr. Clean.
00:30:40So my association with Wayne goes probably back 60 years.
00:30:46What was it like, Jerry, when you first got legged up on a horse for Wayne, a guy that you'd
00:30:52watched over the years, whether, whether, was there a conversation, were there instructions?
00:30:58You know, what was he like to ride for?
00:31:01You know, I don't really remember.
00:31:04So, you know, in the beginning, I wasn't good enough to ride his horses.
00:31:07He was using Codero and Velasquez and, and, and all the, you know, Velasquez, all those
00:31:12guys.
00:31:13I mean, I was drinking at the time, so it wasn't until I quit drinking that I was actually probably
00:31:18good enough or successful enough to ride for him.
00:31:20Uh, so I wasn't even in the conversation the first half of my career with Wayne.
00:31:24Uh, but I do, I just, the biggest impression that Wayne has always left on me is how positive
00:31:30he was about everything.
00:31:33He, he always saw the glasses half full.
00:31:37And if things were going a little sour at the moment, he would redirect the conversation
00:31:42and the whole thought press to something that was coming in the future that was going to
00:31:45be great.
00:31:46I can remember riding a colt for him.
00:31:49I think it was at Saratoga.
00:31:51I'm not sure.
00:31:51But anyway, the horse was well over a million dollar purchase.
00:31:54And it was his first time out and he was beating double digits.
00:31:57And I got off the horse and Randy can attest to this.
00:32:01My attitude wasn't real good in the best of circumstances when I was riding, but especially
00:32:06when I got gotten, when I was beaten that badly.
00:32:09And in a nice way of putting it, I told Wayne, you know, this horse is just no good.
00:32:15And in the four minute or five minute walk that it took us to get back to the jockey's
00:32:21room, I don't remember what he said, but he had me asking for the mount again.
00:32:26This is how positive Wayne Lucas was about how the future was going to be better than
00:32:31the present.
00:32:31So that is my biggest recollection of him.
00:32:35Yeah.
00:32:36Even when we would hit the backside, wherever we were covering whatever race we were covering,
00:32:42especially the Kentucky Derby.
00:32:45But if Wayne was stabled at a track where NBC had a telecast or ESPN before that, we would
00:32:52always make it a point, even if he had no horse in our race, even when he was down to, you
00:32:57know, a dozen horses and no real good horses.
00:33:00We would always make it a point to stop by and say hi to Wayne, because that's just who
00:33:06he was.
00:33:06I mean, he was the icon.
00:33:10How special was it that we got a chance in the later years of his life to see him back
00:33:17on top, sort of, in the Triple Crown races and sort of the rejuvenation of Wayne Lucas?
00:33:25Yeah, I think that it was very special.
00:33:30And I think he deserved that for as good as he was for as long as he was.
00:33:36You know, everybody, I mean, I don't have to tell you this.
00:33:38Everybody knows he set all the records.
00:33:39He was the benchmark.
00:33:41Number of races won.
00:33:42Greatest stage won.
00:33:43He revolutionized the travel back and forth.
00:33:45I mean, that was just, it was crazy.
00:33:48But then he, as you all know, he went through that low and then you can never count Wayne
00:33:53out because here he comes again.
00:33:54I would, I would never believe that he was going to win another preseason or two.
00:33:58I mean, because in the 20 years I've been a broadcaster, he won with Oxbow and then he
00:34:03won with Seize the Grey.
00:34:04So I never thought Wayne had it and him to do that because he just wasn't at the time getting
00:34:10those kind of horses.
00:34:10But then again, if I really sit down and think about it, I shouldn't have counted him out
00:34:16because he was always the kind of guy that would come up with something.
00:34:20And I think that's due to his positivity.
00:34:23Look, I think most people know he was a motivational speaker as well.
00:34:27He was really good at that kind of stuff.
00:34:29And that's just Wayne.
00:34:32He was just Mr. Positive.
00:34:34Jerry, your second Kentucky Derby win was with Grindstone.
00:34:37You had already won the race three years earlier with Sea Hero.
00:34:41Tell us a little bit about how you partnered up with D.
00:34:44Wayne and how you got the mount on Grindstone, even though it was a very short-lived partnership
00:34:48because Grindstone suffered an injury and was subsequently retired and did not compete
00:34:53in the Preakness.
00:34:54How did that all come about, please?
00:34:56Yeah, Wayne had a, he had so many cool phrases.
00:35:00And as a jockey, you could never expect to ride a horse that you've just ridden previously.
00:35:08Wayne's phrase was, listen, Jock.
00:35:10These are one race commitments and we're going to take it race to race.
00:35:14We're not getting married, buddy.
00:35:15We're just dating.
00:35:17So that's the way that you took it as a jockey.
00:35:21And when I won the Louisiana Derby, I kind of expected to ride him back in the Arkansas Derby.
00:35:25But when he was a beaten second in the Arkansas Derby, I wasn't sure I was going to have the mount back again.
00:35:32I thought I would, but you never knew with Wayne.
00:35:34So, yeah, he put me back on him.
00:35:36And I'm not, I'm not sure he thought Grindstone was the best of the four or the five.
00:35:42I think he had five in that year that he had.
00:35:45But when he went around the circle talking to the rider, all of us riders in the paddock,
00:35:51he made you think your horse was the horse to beat.
00:35:54So he always inspired confidence.
00:35:58I mean, he didn't, he didn't, I don't think he told me anything specific,
00:36:02but I think he said something like, you need a clear trip.
00:36:04You're going to have to have a pretty clear trip.
00:36:07And, you know, it was, it was really a great trip.
00:36:09And I think it meant more to Wayne to win for Bill Young and over Brook Farm than anything else in that particular year.
00:36:19Jerry, yourself and Randy and the rest of the NBC crew had the privilege of sitting down with Wayne at this year's last Preakness
00:36:28that I know went on for longer than the five minutes they showed on NBC.
00:36:32What can you tell me about that time spent with Wayne and what it really meant to you,
00:36:38just sitting down there and just shooting the shit?
00:36:42Yeah, well, Randy and I would always go down there and shoot the shit with him.
00:36:45He was great about that.
00:36:47As a matter of fact, Bill, I mean, Steve Kornacki on our, on our crew last year had never met Wayne.
00:36:54And it, Wayne was like his idol.
00:36:56So Randy, mostly Randy facilitated, I tagged along.
00:37:01We went down and we spent a lot of time last year with him, not this year.
00:37:04But this year, that wasn't even the plan.
00:37:07So the plan was to have somebody else interview him.
00:37:09I don't know who it was, but whoever it was, it wasn't working out.
00:37:14So Lindsay Shanzer, our producer said, you know, Jerry and Randy, why don't you guys do it?
00:37:20And it's the best thing that's ever happened to me in broadcasting, I think.
00:37:24We had such a good time.
00:37:27And you're right, it went on.
00:37:28It went on like 30 minutes, 35 minutes.
00:37:30And the stories that we heard, and I thought I knew a lot about Wayne.
00:37:35I never knew he wrote poetry.
00:37:38I never had any idea about that.
00:37:41I never knew he dated Olivia Newton-John.
00:37:43Oh, that was a great story.
00:37:46Angie Dickinson and Olivia Newton-John.
00:37:48Oh, my gosh.
00:37:49I knew Wayne was a player, but I didn't know he was that big of a player.
00:37:54But yeah, that was special.
00:37:55Because I remember him as the guy that had the helicopters and the jets.
00:37:59And, you know, even though he was on the West Coast and I was on the East Coast, he was just an icon.
00:38:03And even though I spent a lot of time riding for him and winning big races for him, that was really different.
00:38:12That was just a no-pressure, sit-down, shoot-the-bull kind of session with four guys.
00:38:19And yeah, Zoe, that was extremely cool and maybe my best broadcasting experience.
00:38:26This week's multiple guest of the week brought to you by Gainesway,
00:38:29the home of 2024 Preakness winner Seize the Gray, appropriately the last classic winner saddled by Wayne Lucas.
00:38:38Seize the Gray is the highest-earning son of Arrowgate from the late Stallions' final crop at Stud.
00:38:44He earned just under $2.5 million in a career that saw him defeat both Kentucky Derby winner Mystic Dan
00:38:50and Belmont winner Dornuk.
00:38:53But, of course, Seize the Gray will forever be known as giving the coach one last moment in a classic winner's circle.
00:39:03Gainesway and Wayne Lucas, for that matter, power, passion, performance.
00:39:16Seize the Gray wins convincingly.
00:39:19Seize the Gray, he's going to seize the day in the Pennsylvania Derby.
00:39:26Seize the Gray is still there.
00:39:29Seize the Gray wins the Preakness.
00:39:32We continue now with our celebration of life of D. Wayne Lucas, who died on June 28th after a brief illness.
00:39:49And we're joined now by Hall of Fame jockey, retired jockey, Gary Stevens.
00:39:54Gary, welcome to the TDN Writers' Room.
00:39:56Thanks for having me.
00:39:58It's a pleasure, and I like the celebration of life because that's what it is.
00:40:04Gary, if you would, to start off, take us back some 40 years.
00:40:09You were a young jockey trying to break into the Southern California circuit after starting your career up in the Pacific Northwest.
00:40:16And D. Wayne Lucas, at that point, he had already won one triple crown race,
00:40:20but it would be eight years until he got his next one when you rode Winning Colors.
00:40:24But in the interim, you were starting to get a leg up in your career.
00:40:27He gave you your first Derby mount with Tank's Prospect in 1985.
00:40:31But D. Wayne hadn't really exploded onto the scene quite yet, and you hadn't made your mark just yet.
00:40:38Take us back and tell us what it was like being around him in the early 80s and what you absorbed.
00:40:42I was pretty special, and first of all, I'd say there would have been no Gary Stevens at the level that I made it to
00:40:53and the connections if it wasn't for Wayne Lucas.
00:40:55He's responsible for making Gary Stevens Gary Stevens.
00:41:01I was a 21-year-old kid and didn't think of myself as a kid, but I was.
00:41:07And it was a Friday afternoon.
00:41:12I was riding a maiden special for him at Santa Anita, and the Arkansas Derby was the next day,
00:41:20and it was the first $500,000, by far the biggest race I'd ever ridden in.
00:41:25And Wayne told me in the paddock, he said, jot your address down.
00:41:30I'll come pick you up tonight.
00:41:32We'll go to the airport together.
00:41:33And I just bought my first house in Southern California in Arcadia,
00:41:39just a couple miles from Santa Anita Racetrack.
00:41:43And this big stretch black limo comes driving up to the house,
00:41:49and I'm looking out the window, and Wayne gets out,
00:41:52and he's got the white shirt on with the V-net cashmere WL green sweater on.
00:42:01I got the Gucci sunglasses on and a cowboy hat and pressed Wranglers.
00:42:08And I went and got in the car, and we're going to Ontario Airport.
00:42:12And I'd been to Ontario Airport many times, but not the way that we were going.
00:42:18We went on a frontage road, and the driver punched in a code on the thing.
00:42:23And the gates opened up, and we drove around the hangar,
00:42:27and there's a white Lear jet with a WL on the tail fin.
00:42:32And he had a bed made out for me.
00:42:36It was catered in there and stuff.
00:42:38He says, get tired.
00:42:39He said, just stretch out back.
00:42:41He said, we're going to stop at headquarters in Oklahoma and refuel,
00:42:45and then we'll fly straight into Hot Springs.
00:42:49And so we got there about, I think, about 7 o'clock, 7 a.m. in the morning,
00:42:56on Saturday morning, and dropping me off on Central Avenue.
00:43:01And I'd never been to Oakland Park before.
00:43:04And there's the track on Central Avenue.
00:43:07And I get out of the car.
00:43:10They pop the trunk open, and I got my tack bag out.
00:43:12And Wayne gets out, and he said, do you like traveling like this?
00:43:16And I said, it's pretty good.
00:43:17And he says, if you win today, he said, get used to it.
00:43:19And that was 40 years ago.
00:43:21And we just shared some really good memories here about 45 minutes ago, Randy and I.
00:43:28And anyway, there's so many great memories.
00:43:32And skipping ahead all of these years, 2013,
00:43:38and I was retired for 7 1⁄2 years,
00:43:40and everybody thought I was completely crazy coming out of retirement,
00:43:44except for one guy, and that was Wayne Lucas.
00:43:48And my fondest memory of any of my Triple Crown races that I won was I've got a drone shot,
00:43:56a picture of Wayne leading me and Oxbow into the winner's circle at Pimico.
00:44:02And it's above the head, and I've got my left hand down on his shoulder.
00:44:08And Wayne's looking up at me and got this humongous smile on his face.
00:44:12And that's how I'm going to remember Wayne.
00:44:16And that was my favorite Triple Crown memory that I have, believe it or not.
00:44:21Wow.
00:44:21He had a huge influence on you as a jockey.
00:44:27But what kind of influence did he have on Gary Stevens as a human being?
00:44:33What did he impart to you as just a person, Gary?
00:44:37Well, and it went right up until 12 days ago.
00:44:46He was my first stop in the morning over the last couple of years.
00:44:51Me being an agent now and everything, I have a cup of coffee with him,
00:44:55be part of the team that would get him on the pony.
00:44:58But life experiences, I left home when I was young,
00:45:08and Wayne became like a surrogate father to me because I wasn't around.
00:45:13My dad and I are extremely close, and God bless, he's still alive and mom.
00:45:19But my relationship with Wayne was more than just friends.
00:45:28I literally loved him.
00:45:30That's awesome.
00:45:32You know, my conversation with Randy Bradshaw, he made us all feel special.
00:45:39Like we were number one, you know what I mean?
00:45:42And I think we all were number one.
00:45:46And, you know, from the kids that he brought into the Winner's Circle to all of us, journalists and you guys.
00:45:58He made everyone feel special.
00:46:00And I don't know what else to say other than that.
00:46:10He just touched, he really touched a lot of lives.
00:46:14We may not have time for this, but I'm going to ask it anyway.
00:46:16Obviously, Wayne's optimism has been legendary, and his powers of persuasion have been legendary.
00:46:27And when you wrote your book, The Perfect Ride, you told a story that I thought was hysterical about a horse you worked for Wayne one morning
00:46:36that you weren't exactly impressed with and the aftermath behind that.
00:46:42Will you share that with us?
00:46:43Do you know what I'm talking about?
00:46:44Yeah, I do.
00:46:46So I'm thinking I have absolutely no chance on this horse, zero chance.
00:46:56And by the time I left the paddock and his pep talk or whatever you want to call it,
00:47:04I thought the only way I could get beat was if I screwed it up.
00:47:07And this horse proceeded to go out and set a track record in a grade one race.
00:47:18I'm thinking to myself, I don't know about this.
00:47:21But he was a motivator, and not just me, everybody.
00:47:28If you were in a room with Wayne Lucas, you could go in there in a poor mood and come out of it thinking that you were king of the world.
00:47:36That's the way he made me feel.
00:47:39I could be having an off day or just something personally was going on with me.
00:47:45And I would go out there in the paddock, and I loved those Fridays and Saturdays, the first race of the day.
00:47:53I made a special with Wayne's new two-year-olds coming out.
00:47:56And I read a quote yesterday that, never mind about these horses that just won a race in the Triple Crown.
00:48:03You ought to see the babies I got coming out right now.
00:48:06And that's how he was right up until the end.
00:48:08He, you know, Sebastian Bassnickel, new trainer of record at the D. Wayne Lucas stable.
00:48:17They've got a ton of two-year-olds down there.
00:48:19I'm not sure if all of them will stay, but what he's got in his barn is as good a crop as he's had in a long time.
00:48:28He was always thinking about the future, and his two-year-old's the next champion.
00:48:34And we continue now with our celebration of life of D. Wayne Lucas, the coach, with perhaps one of his biggest fans.
00:48:42You could perhaps call her a super fan in Christina Bossanakis.
00:48:46Christina, thank you so much for joining us here today.
00:48:50Thank you so much for having me.
00:48:53I actually was really honored to be asked to come on today.
00:48:57And I think actually Wayne Lucas's sister would have argued with you that she,
00:49:01she actually argued with me when I told her once that I was his super, like his super fan.
00:49:06She said, no, I'm his biggest fan.
00:49:08So I was like, okay.
00:49:09So I'm second to Wayne Lucas's sister.
00:49:12Can you talk about that famous moment decades ago and tell us when it was and how you met coach D. Wayne Lucas?
00:49:23It sounds terrible when you say decades ago.
00:49:26Yeah, right?
00:49:27It sounds horrifying.
00:49:29Yes, I was pretty young.
00:49:30I think I was about 19, actually.
00:49:32I did the math.
00:49:33I was like 18, 19.
00:49:34And I went to Saratoga for the first time.
00:49:37And of course, it was exciting just to be there.
00:49:40But meeting Wayne for the first time, I was already a huge fan of his at that point.
00:49:44So it was already like in, you know, like full tilt.
00:49:49And I got, I had the opportunity to go get an autograph from him.
00:49:54I was chicken.
00:49:55I couldn't ask.
00:49:56My cousin kind of got me into the winner's circle so I could get an autograph from him.
00:50:01And there's a photograph that's actually in the book that we worked on, Sermon on the Mount,
00:50:06that shows that moment, which is funny.
00:50:09We all laugh about it because I just look so stunned.
00:50:12But the funny thing was, a couple years ago, I had showed that picture to Wayne a few years ago
00:50:17when we were working on the book.
00:50:19And he's like, oh, when was that?
00:50:20Like last year?
00:50:21I was like, Wayne.
00:50:23We both look way younger in that picture.
00:50:26So no, it was in the 90s.
00:50:29But yeah, I think really my takeaway from that is that I really try to share with everybody
00:50:38was I was so like, he was my idol.
00:50:42Like I admired him so much that if he had, you know, brushed me off or blown me off or
00:50:49did anything that really would have made me feel like not welcome, I honestly think that
00:50:55I may not be in horse racing today.
00:50:57So I really do.
00:50:59I'm appreciative of that moment with him.
00:51:00And you went from being maybe Wayne's second biggest fan, we'll give deference to his sister,
00:51:08to covering him professionally as a journalist in thoroughbred racing and being, you know,
00:51:15helping him author his book.
00:51:16So how did the relationship morph as you were around him more and more from a professional
00:51:23point of view?
00:51:24Yeah, that's an interesting question, because initially, you know, like the rest of the
00:51:30media, I was interviewing him, buying these big horses, he's, you know, doing these tremendous
00:51:34things, and I'm interviewing him.
00:51:36I think just with time, I really, I just spent a lot of time by his barn.
00:51:42Like I'd always go by, I'd always go to say hello.
00:51:45You know, he became my first stop whenever I went to any racetrack that Wayne Lucas had
00:51:49horses or that he was physically there.
00:51:52He'd always be my first stop.
00:51:53I just go check in on him.
00:51:55And I think just over years, we developed a relationship in that way.
00:51:59It took me a long time, I gotta say, it took several years for me to really convince him
00:52:05to do any form of book.
00:52:07He didn't want to do it.
00:52:09He was adamant from the beginning.
00:52:11It's too much time, too much effort.
00:52:14So I really, that was like years of me, Wayne, are we going to do a book?
00:52:17Wayne, when were we going to do, you know, so finally, I broke him down.
00:52:20But I think my relationship really just became more of friends.
00:52:24You know, I just, I had this, I was fortunate that in working on the book that I had the
00:52:31ability, the access to him that a lot of people may not have.
00:52:35While we were working on the book, they actually, Wayne and Lori had invited me to go to their
00:52:40house in Louisville to see his trophy collection, which was amazing.
00:52:48Like, I can't even describe it.
00:52:50I have pictures of it.
00:52:51But it doesn't really do it justice, the amount of hardware that he had in his house.
00:52:56It was like a museum in itself.
00:52:58Christina, with all the time that you've spent around Wayne, I'd be interested in hearing
00:53:03your take on this.
00:53:04It's when somebody is so ultra successful at anything that they do, any profession or any
00:53:11endeavor, you begin to wonder, what are they doing differently that the other men and women
00:53:16are doing?
00:53:17And sometimes when you look at somebody who has just this aura or this zen around them
00:53:22about what they do, like Wayne, you find out that it's really very simple.
00:53:27Yeah, I think, you know what it makes me think of, TD?
00:53:30Like, right away.
00:53:31So Wayne had the theory, the philosophy of the rifle and the, I think it was the shotgun and
00:53:35the rifle.
00:53:36Um, and he, he's, he, he's, he's convinced he was convinced that that laser focus that
00:53:45he had was why he was successful.
00:53:48Like he does not believe in let's do a lot of things like really, really well.
00:53:53And he wants to be, he wants to do that one thing.
00:53:57And what was interesting was when I spoke to Bill Parcells, who did the foreword to the
00:54:03book, he kind of said the same thing.
00:54:06He was saying that, you know, Wayne and I are the same guy.
00:54:09We're just in different sports.
00:54:10Of course, Wayne, uh, you know, Bill, you know, was a champ was, he was an outstanding
00:54:16coach in, um, in football, but both of them basically maintained that because they were
00:54:22so laser focused on that one thing.
00:54:25And they, if you put enough time and effort into that, that you're going to, you're going
00:54:30to be good at it and you're going to excel at it.
00:54:32And the flip side is TD, Wayne and Bill said this separately, that oftentimes things suffer
00:54:40on the other end of it.
00:54:42If you're so laser focused and you're so good in that one thing, you're putting in so much
00:54:47time and so much effort in that one thing, other things might fall to the wayside, like
00:54:53your relationships, marriages, family, friends, you know what I mean?
00:54:58Like, so there's, there's the flip side to that.
00:55:01And, and look, we're not, this is, there are no secrets here.
00:55:04Wayne was married a few times.
00:55:06So, you know, he, he needed a, he needed several tries to get that right.
00:55:11But, but I think, again, I think it's just that he was just so laser, I think that laser
00:55:17focus, yes, it was doing simple things and doing them well, but I think it was just that
00:55:21laser focus that he had that really is why he excelled.
00:55:26Do you have a favorite quote, a favorite saying of Wayne's?
00:55:30I know you went over hundreds and hundreds in, in his book, Sermon on the Mount, but do you
00:55:35have a favorite that just stuck in your head?
00:55:40There's one that I use for some reason, it's the one that stuck with me that I use all the
00:55:46time.
00:55:46And, and at the TDN, you know, like I'm sometimes, like I'm often training some of the junior
00:55:50staff.
00:55:51So I'll say it to them.
00:55:52I say it to people out in the world and it's stay in the buggy.
00:55:56And of course, the younger generation are looking at me like, what are you saying?
00:56:01Like, what does this mean?
00:56:02Stay in the buggy.
00:56:03It's, and the thing with it is just keep on keeping on, just stay with it.
00:56:08Like just like sometimes, especially I tend to use it when, you know, things get a little
00:56:12bit hard and things are a little bit challenging and maybe we're not grasping things initially,
00:56:17or maybe we need to work on something a little bit longer, or maybe just going through a difficult
00:56:22time, like in something right now, you know, with the passing of Wayne, of course, there
00:56:27people suffering, we're suffering or struggling, I should say, you know, with some things,
00:56:35stay in the buggy.
00:56:36Keep with it.
00:56:37Just stay with it.
00:56:38And I think, again, that was pretty much that kind of summed up, Wayne.
00:56:41The TD and Riders Room also brought to you by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association,
00:56:50the PHBA, the twice-delayed Penn Mile Night last Friday, also featured the first two turf
00:56:57stakes for Pennsylvania breads this year.
00:57:00Coretna, a homebred for Michael Moran, earned her first stakes win in the $75,000 Leifard
00:57:06and getting his second stakes win in the $75,000 Alphabet Soup was Fierce and Strong, who was
00:57:13just that, set a quick pace and just held on over the fast-closing Dillon's Ruby.
00:57:19Fierce and Strong owned and bred by Ultra Championship Racing.
00:57:23For more information on the PA Bread program, you can check out pabread.com or call 610-444-1050.
00:57:35PA Bread, I think we've built a brand at this point.
00:57:40It's excitement at every step.
00:57:43Roses for Debra just set a new track record.
00:57:46On average for the past decade, Pennsylvania paid over $28 million a year in breeders' awards,
00:57:52restricted races, and owner bonuses.
00:57:55Plus, PA Bread's shine on the world's biggest stage.
00:57:58Just three states have bred more Breeders' Cup winners.
00:58:01Learn more at pabread.com.
00:58:05Be a smarter better with First TV.
00:58:08The best horses.
00:58:11With thousands of exclusive morning workouts.
00:58:19All at your fingertips and delivered right into your inbox.
00:58:22Everything you need to be informed.
00:58:27Be smart.
00:58:28Bet smart.
00:58:29With First TV.
00:58:34The TDM Writers' Room is brought to you by First TV.
00:58:37Just a touch.
00:58:39Third last out in the Grade 1 Met Mile on Belmont weekend in Saratoga.
00:58:44Had his first workout since that race.
00:58:46A half-mile move at the Spa in 47-3.
00:58:50It was the fastest of 31 works at the distance on Saturday.
00:58:54And just a touch will aim now for either the July 10th Grade 3 Monmouth Cup or the August 2nd Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga,
00:59:03according to his trainer Brad Cox, who is also a D. Wayne Lucas disciple, having worked for Dallas Stewart, who worked for D. Wayne Lucas.
00:59:13It all ties in with the legend D. Wayne Lucas.
00:59:17And now someone who's been closely associated with Wayne Lucas for a long time, Todd Pletcher.
00:59:24Todd, you've had some time to reflect on what Lucas meant to you and your past associations with him.
00:59:32When you look back on it now, give us a couple of the things that come immediately to mind.
00:59:38I mean, there's so many.
00:59:42I mean, obviously, you know, the opportunity to work with him and Jeff and, you know, all the assistants that were there when I first got there that have gone on to have remarkable careers.
00:59:58There's, you know, just the amazing talent of people and horses and, you know, the opportunity as a young person to get to work in an environment like that and learn from all of those guys.
01:00:13It was just, you know, tremendous experience.
01:00:18I mean, one that you just, you can never imagine yourself being fortunate enough to be in that position.
01:00:26Todd, we've heard lots of anecdotes, lots of stories about Wayne over the past couple of days since his passing.
01:00:33But what is one of your perhaps oldest and most favorite stories of Wayne that you can actually tell us here?
01:00:41So Wayne came into Belmont.
01:00:47I can't remember which year this was, but he came into Belmont and he was staying at the Garden City Hotel.
01:00:53So after we finished, we finished training.
01:00:57I was giving him a ride back to the hotel and he said, let's let's stop by that Carvel ice cream store on the on the way to the hotel.
01:01:06So we go, we go in and Wayne orders an extra large double chocolate milkshake.
01:01:19And, you know, it's like a teenage girl working behind the counter and she goes back and she makes the shake, but she uses vanilla ice cream with two squirts of chocolate syrup in it.
01:01:30And she brings it over and he goes very politely said, you know, that's that's not really what I wanted.
01:01:36I want a double chocolate.
01:01:38I want a chocolate ice cream and chocolate syrup.
01:01:41So she said, oh, I'm sorry, sir.
01:01:44And she starts to take it back and he says, no, no, no, no.
01:01:46Here, let me have that.
01:01:48I'll drink that while you make me one double chocolate.
01:01:52So she makes double chocolate and she puts one squirt of syrup in it and she kind of looks over at Wayne and Wayne gives her the go ahead.
01:02:02So she puts another another double.
01:02:05So but, you know, I was thinking about it.
01:02:08So at the time I was like, man, this is so cool that he while he's waiting on this other milkshake to be made, he downs this extra large vanilla with chocolate syrup.
01:02:19Now he gets the second one and I'm thinking, you know, like, that's pretty cool that he did that.
01:02:25But then I started thinking about it later on and it's like, you know what?
01:02:29That's why he was who he was.
01:02:31That's who he was, the guy that had chocolate ice cream with two squirts of chocolate syrup, you know, and that's the way he lived his life.
01:02:40You know, he was he was always going to have the best looking pony.
01:02:44He was going to have the, you know, the the nicest suit.
01:02:47Like, that's that to me, it was just like, you know what?
01:02:50That that kind of sums up who he was.
01:02:53And Todd, I've heard this one from other people, and I think I've even referenced it on the air, but not from you.
01:02:59Tell us the penmanship story.
01:03:02Yeah, I don't know if that was totally accurate because.
01:03:06We we all were expected to, you know, try to produce the tidiest set list we could or, you know, but I always thought I kind of copied from Jeff a little bit in his penmanship.
01:03:21Like, his was outstanding as well, but I don't really recall that specific lesson.
01:03:28I don't know if maybe that one might have gotten mistaken with Karen because Karen, Karen was not his penmanship.
01:03:35And I'm sure he'd tell you the same thing.
01:03:37Wasn't wasn't wasn't the same as as Jeff's and Wayne's.
01:03:42But he expected his assistants to not only be on top of everything with the horses, but also to have a good penmanship.
01:03:51That's right.
01:03:52Yeah.
01:03:53Present a neat product.
01:03:54And then we've ever seen Wayne's signature or his autograph.
01:03:58I mean, it's like it was unbelievable.
01:04:00It's just I mean, like, yeah, look like an artist drew it.
01:04:03And I think that that story speaks to the level of detail that he expected out of people, not just the caring for the horses and the running of the races, but but everything around the shed row had to be just perfect.
01:04:17I mean, it was it made a lot of sense when you asked him his philosophy on why, you know, why he did that, why he expected everything, you know, to look perfectly all the time.
01:04:29And then, you know, that attention to detail, he felt like spilled over to every part of the organization to, you know, making the groom, you know, taking a little more pride in the way they took care of their horse and presented everything.
01:04:42And so, you know, he just he felt like, you know, that by wanting everything to be perfect was raising the bar, raising the expectations and just having everyone, you know.
01:04:55Do the very best that they could.
01:04:57Todd, as we wrap it up here, anything we didn't ask you, any parting words or story you'd like to share before we let you go?
01:05:03No, no, I think the well, I will one other one that I think so I have this horse money moves who we were preparing to run in the Kentucky Derby the year of COVID and it was delayed until September and it was really difficult to move people around.
01:05:26It was difficult to do anything, really. But so I couldn't like send like I normally would, you know, a complete staff there to run the horse.
01:05:37So I called Wayne's assistant Bass and I said, hey, Bass, do you think you guys would be able to take this horse for me?
01:05:44You know, be there a couple of days and run them in the Derby.
01:05:48And Bass was like, sure, you know, no problem.
01:05:50And so two minutes later, Wayne calls me back and he says, you know, just just send the horse.
01:05:56Don't send a bridle. Don't send anything. We got this. I'll take care of this for you.
01:06:00And so the horse ends up getting there. He gallops the first day and Wayne calls me and he's like, man, this horse went great.
01:06:08This horse. I mean, he was 25 to one. So he's like, man, this what this horse is doing really good.
01:06:14But the next day, he calls me back. He says, wow, this horse is even better today.
01:06:19By the time we ran the horse, I actually thought we had a shot.
01:06:23I mean, he was he was. But that's the way he was.
01:06:26You know, he was just always like, you know, man, this horse is having the greatest, greatest couple of days leading into this race.
01:06:32But, you know, it's just that's the way he that's the way he thought.
01:06:37Can you describe him in one word before we let you go?
01:06:42Legend.
01:06:42And now we welcome in the Hall of Famer, Bob Baffert.
01:06:47Bob, thanks so much for joining us.
01:06:49And it's almost fitting that you are our last and final guest today as the last and final horse that D.
01:06:55Wayne Lucas ran and won with at Churchill Downs was yours, owned by Jill and yourself.
01:07:02Can you talk about what Wayne meant to you over the course of the past couple of years?
01:07:08I first saw him when I was like 17 years old.
01:07:10I was at we have a little meet there at Senoid, Arizona.
01:07:14It's like 30 miles away from Nogales, where I grew up on the border.
01:07:17And he was training for a guy that I eventually started training for later on, you know, 10 years later.
01:07:24His name was Rulon Goodman.
01:07:26He owned these grocery stores, you know, spent a lot of money on good horses.
01:07:29And Wayne picked them up and we had a little fraternity there in Senoid, Arizona, that my dad and my uncle put together.
01:07:40It was like that was our first Saturday in May, the Senoid fraternity.
01:07:43That was the big deal.
01:07:44And he came in from New Mexico and this shiny trailer with the chrome wheels and the big Stetson hat.
01:07:51And just I mean, like I mean, just talk about, you know, first class operation into these and the horses went into these Ricky Dick Dinkity stalls, you know, that we had out there.
01:08:02But I remember him. I thought, wow, man, that's Wayne. I was on the fence. I can still remember exactly where I was standing outside the little chain link paddock fence that we had there and watching him just maneuver and just ran his horses.
01:08:16He cleaned up, took off. And I didn't see him again for probably another, you know, five years.
01:08:23And but it was it was something that when he went into the quarter horse world and sort of just revolutionized it, came in there.
01:08:32He got the bigger barns. He got Los Alamitos to change the rules of having an off stable horses because you were only allowed 32 horses, 32 stalls.
01:08:40That was it. He went in there and changed it so he could have stabled outside.
01:08:45He had another 30 head outside. So he changed the rules on that.
01:08:49And so you didn't feel that like you feel now, you know, now.
01:08:53And so and I think when he he switched over the quarter horse world, he didn't have any clients.
01:08:58You know, most thoroughbred trainers, they start they work for somebody or, you know, some thoroughbred trainer and then they get a horse or two.
01:09:06So he had to just go out and and recruit. That's where the basketball skills came in.
01:09:12And he was like NIL. He recruited his own people.
01:09:16And he went in there and like he just made this big splash.
01:09:20He went to the sales and he bought fast looking horses.
01:09:24And, you know, he wasn't looking at bloodlines. He was just looking at the physical.
01:09:29Probably the first guy that started just buying off the physical.
01:09:31So and later, you know, and I noticed that he always stuck with the same sort of bloodlines that he had luck with.
01:09:37He was smart. And even though he had his, you know, he, you know, the way he'd grade them a one, a five, eight or whatever.
01:09:45I think that was more like, you know, like, hey, this is how we do it.
01:09:49You know, like basically. But he went it was all about the physical.
01:09:52But and I remember when he was at the quarter horse world, he his bar and, you know, go to his bar and the way he had it just so pristine.
01:10:00I mean, he had the herringbone raking, the puffs out front and the trainers next to him.
01:10:05They try to mimic him and they all went broke. I mean, you just couldn't do it.
01:10:09I mean, it was like there was a couple of guys where they tried to do it.
01:10:13No way. It just wasn't going to happen, you know.
01:10:15And but you didn't want to be stable next to him because it's like, you know, moving in and you got a house and this guy built a mansion next to you.
01:10:22You know, you got to update your your your your gardens and stuff like that.
01:10:27But he was at deep. But behind all the the showmanship, there was a really a good horseman.
01:10:35He knew horses. He knew how to. And when he came into the quarter horse world, he I remember came into he'd see a horse run and he'd just go buy that horse quarter horse.
01:10:43He'd just go give him whatever they wanted. He started. I remember I went out to we'd go to Los Alamitos with my dad.
01:10:50We'd drive out there and we'd spend a week out there. Just we loved the horse business.
01:10:55You know, we had a couple of mares and and I think it was like 73 or something.
01:11:00But he was it was a big night. He had native empress.
01:11:04I think he was in some big race and we're down there and we're you know, I've never met him and I see him.
01:11:09And and I'd ask him for a job when I was a junior in high school.
01:11:14I called him up one time and I was scared to death. I finally called him and I but he was so nice to me.
01:11:19He let me down. You know, that's one thing about it.
01:11:22He he he he he valued your your the way, you know, he made you feel really good after you talk to him.
01:11:29And he said, oh, you would have been perfect for me, but I just hired somebody just and when I got off the phone, I go, what a great guy.
01:11:36You know, he just made you he made you feel good inside.
01:11:39And so but I remember he's here he is.
01:11:43It's Los Alamitos. He's saddled.
01:11:45He's got a three piece suit on like a wool suit.
01:11:48It's like December, whatever.
01:11:49And I think it's a champion champion or some big race.
01:11:53And he saddled the horse.
01:11:56Then he gets on the pony.
01:12:00With a three piece suit on and takes the horse to the gate, ponies it for the game like it's crazy.
01:12:06You never see anything like that, you know, and you'll never see it again, you know, and I think she won.
01:12:12I don't I forget. But he was just that kind of a he was so hands on, so detailed.
01:12:18And he wanted to, you know, show people, look, this is the way it's done.
01:12:22You want to do it right.
01:12:23And he really classed up the backside.
01:12:26Everybody started, you know, you know, you weren't going to see any bandages hanging down on a on a string in front of his barn.
01:12:33He brought in washing machines.
01:12:35Nobody had a washing machine.
01:12:36He brought them in and he did his own laundry, you know, everything.
01:12:40But it was just so pristine.
01:12:42But, you know, that that that went into the horses.
01:12:45And and he would I'd see him he'd buy horses.
01:12:49These guys would sell him a horse.
01:12:50Well, he can't go over 350 yards.
01:12:52He'd win the champion champion going for he'd get him to go 440 yards.
01:12:57And he wasn't afraid.
01:12:58The main thing is he wasn't afraid to fail.
01:13:02You know, he wasn't afraid to get beat.
01:13:03And that's the main thing that they got him through there.
01:13:06And to this day, just like, you know, guys like Kenny McPee.
01:13:09You know, he's still running or he's not afraid to run a horse.
01:13:12And a lot of trainers, they won't do that anymore.
01:13:14You know, they want to worry about their stats and whatever.
01:13:16And they won't, you know, take a swing, you know, at it.
01:13:20But he wasn't afraid to fail.
01:13:22And he was just he was he was so such a great ambassador.
01:13:27And we left the quarter horse.
01:13:29You know, it was like a different, you know, it's completely changed completely.
01:13:34There was the the fancy barns.
01:13:36They were they were gone.
01:13:37You know, he just took it all to Santa Anita and and before he left, when he left Santa
01:13:42Anita, he said, Bob, I'm going to help.
01:13:44I got those big trees.
01:13:46I can't bring them with me.
01:13:47Those big, fancy tree.
01:13:48I said, you need to class up your barn a little bit.
01:13:51So I'm going to I'm going to leave you those trees.
01:13:53So we have a street.
01:13:54I gave two to Mandela and I kept two.
01:13:56I should.
01:13:56I wish I would have kept all four of them.
01:13:58But when you go to my barn, you can see that, you know, I always have a piece of Wayne
01:14:03Lucas with me every day that I get there.
01:14:05We still have his his trees.
01:14:08And and he asked me about how my trees are.
01:14:10They're good.
01:14:11They're still good.
01:14:12We got them there.
01:14:13That's awesome.
01:14:14So Wayne was already king of the hill and thoroughbred racing when you made the transition
01:14:21from quarter horses to thoroughbreds.
01:14:23And now all of a sudden, the guy that you looked up to and then everyone idolized.
01:14:28Now you're competing head to head against and doing well against when you transition to thoroughbred
01:14:35racing.
01:14:35What was that like at that point to be competing with Wayne, not only on the track, but even
01:14:42for some of the same owners?
01:14:44Well, what happened when I first got there, I'd be on my pony.
01:14:47I'd go up there and I'd sit and talk with them.
01:14:50And and it was sometimes it's hard to talk to.
01:14:53You know, I talk like Las Barrera, Charlie Whittingham.
01:14:56They were easier to talk to and they were, you know, they're they were older.
01:15:00And one thing about it, when you get older, you can really get a lot more information out
01:15:04of those old timers, you know.
01:15:05And so I was trying I was like a sponge.
01:15:09I was trying to, you know, learn everything.
01:15:12I was trying to learn what took them 20, 30 years.
01:15:16I was trying I'm learning in 15 minutes, you know, about this Las Barrera, you know, a character
01:15:22and Wayne.
01:15:23I talked to Wayne and Wayne was always like he didn't really want you to know what was
01:15:28going on.
01:15:29He was he kept his he was a good poker player.
01:15:32He kept his cards close to his chest.
01:15:33So I really I couldn't get any info out of.
01:15:36But I did when he had Wayne, I had Bob Lewis and he was somebody else.
01:15:41And then he came to me and said, hey, Bob, I want you to buy me some horses.
01:15:44And I bought him a cow bread.
01:15:46We went a little cow cup.
01:15:47But and I wasn't really I just didn't have the confidence.
01:15:51And then all of a sudden, Bob Lewis, I hear Bob Lewis and Wayne teamed up in July and they
01:15:58spent three million dollars.
01:15:59And I'm going, wow.
01:16:00And I called up Bob, Bob, I thought you wanted me to buy.
01:16:04See, yes, Robert, you know, I met Wayne in the turf club and I didn't I never would go
01:16:11to the turf club because I wasn't going to dress up and stuff.
01:16:13I met Wayne and we talked and, you know, he let up.
01:16:17He, you know, this he, you know, he gave me this business version of it.
01:16:22And and I hope you don't, you know, I said, no, I'm fine.
01:16:26But I want to I want to know what the speech was.
01:16:29That's what I want to know.
01:16:30What was the speech?
01:16:32And he said, he's look at it's a three year program and we're going to buy horses.
01:16:36And by the third year, these horses should be paying for themselves.
01:16:40We're going to buy them.
01:16:41We're going to run.
01:16:41We're going to sell the mares.
01:16:42We're going to do this and we're going to do that.
01:16:45And I go, wow.
01:16:47So I had the speech.
01:16:48So now I was ready.
01:16:50And that's what I took away from Wayne Lucas.
01:16:52And it helped me, you know, as as a trainer, you know, you have to be able to manage your
01:16:58clientele and you you have to have a plan.
01:17:01Usually trainers, you get a horse.
01:17:03Well, we'll see him.
01:17:04We'll get him ready.
01:17:05And none of that.
01:17:06Wayne was he already had, you know, he'd break a maiden.
01:17:08He had a race picked out.
01:17:10But he always kept his his his clients, you know, informed them what they were going to
01:17:16do.
01:17:16And they want to play at the top level.
01:17:18And I, I wanted to do that also, you know, so he was the bar when I got over there.
01:17:24He was the bar of racing.
01:17:25He was he was the guy.
01:17:27And so and then when we were training, Bob Lewis, I think he'd like to sort of pit us
01:17:32against each other a little bit, you know, but we always got along when we ran against
01:17:36each other.
01:17:36And when I went with Silver Charm, he was sort of upset because he wanted to be the first
01:17:40guy to win for for Bob Lewis, won the derby, you know.
01:17:44And we talked about it and I go, you know, but all in all, but I, I really, I learned
01:17:52from him, you know, the kind of horses he bought, but the way he ran his business, the
01:17:57way he, he focused on everything.
01:18:00And I always, I'd always be in the box next to him, like after a race, he'd get beat,
01:18:06but I'd listen.
01:18:07And I'd win there.
01:18:09I'd listen to see.
01:18:11And I mean, it was, you would have thought they won the race, you know, like it's perfect.
01:18:16That's exactly horse ran fourth, got beat five, six lanes.
01:18:20That's perfect.
01:18:21That's exactly what I was looking for.
01:18:23We're looking good.
01:18:23We're going to move forward.
01:18:24It's charismatic, right?
01:18:26And I go, look, you got no shot, you know?
01:18:28And so sure enough, he takes from Lexington, wins at Lexington.
01:18:32Then he went to the Kentucky Derby, but I'm telling you, he was, he was optimistic, you
01:18:37know, he's just an optimistic.
01:18:38And, you know, there's a funny story that Mike Marlowe, who he called me up and he says,
01:18:46you need to hire this kid, Mike Marlowe.
01:18:47He's really good.
01:18:48He worked for me.
01:18:49And I said, really?
01:18:50I said, so I hired Mike Marlowe because off of Wayne and he's, he was right.
01:18:54He's unbelievable.
01:18:55He gets all my two-year-olds ready and, and all, and we were talking about telling stories
01:19:00and he was telling me one time that, uh, they were in a big race and they're coming down.
01:19:05And when you're coming out of the paddock and that little lane to the main paddock, it
01:19:09was, uh, Wayne was with, uh, Mike Smith was next to him.
01:19:13All of a sudden his horse is acting up and is running backwards towards him.
01:19:16So Wayne gets Mike and puts him in front of him.
01:19:20And Mike Smith goes, Wayne, you're trying to kill me.
01:19:23He says, Mike, there's a thousand of you.
01:19:26There's only one Wayne Lucas, you know?
01:19:29And so I just, I, I just love that about him.
01:19:32You know, it was like, um, he was just so, uh, he'd come up with stuff, but he was such,
01:19:38he was such a great voice for the sport.
01:19:41And when things would go bad, they always, Wayne was a go-to guy because he could explain
01:19:47things.
01:19:47Well, you know, you hit, you need somebody well-spoken, like, Hey, what happened?
01:19:51There was a, there's a trap.
01:19:52There was something happened bad.
01:19:53You go to Wayne and they can just really have a way of explaining to the layman people that
01:20:01don't know.
01:20:02We all know what happened, but the lame, you know, people out there, they don't know.
01:20:06And, and he was great about explaining things, you know, like something bad would happen.
01:20:10They'd call me up.
01:20:11I said, you need to talk to Wayne.
01:20:12Like Wayne will really knows how to put the right kind of spin on it, you know, uh, and
01:20:17so, you know, when bad things happen, but, um, I'm just going to really, I had a hard
01:20:23time with it, you know, last week when I first heard about it, you know, so I'm still
01:20:29dealing with it.
01:20:32Well, Bob, thank you for your time.
01:20:33I get the feeling that we could go on for hours and hours like this.
01:20:37And Wayne certainly was a, was a man who was befitting of that type of a tribute.
01:20:40So thank you very much.
01:20:41I've got one more, Bob, uh, before we let you go, you wrote a very heartfelt, fitting
01:20:48tribute to Wayne on X.
01:20:51We don't see you post an awful lot of things nowadays on social media.
01:20:54And right at the end of it, you said quite fittingly, I hope I made him proud.
01:21:02Yeah, he, uh, going to make me cry here, but he just, I'm going to miss the guy.
01:21:09Yes, yes.
01:21:11You made him proud.
01:21:12TD and writer's room brought to you by West Point thoroughbreds, which kicks off its summer
01:21:22at Saratoga over the July 4th weekend on the 4th of July, Friday, the grade three Manila
01:21:27stakes on turf for three-year-olds in which West Point will, will have a trio of runners.
01:21:34Now we strong Reagan's wit and revolutionary Reagan's wit gets another crack at the favorite
01:21:40Zulu kingdom who beat him by only a neck in March in the Columbia stakes at Tampa.
01:21:45Meanwhile, West Point's CEO, Terry Finley weighed in on the legacy of Dwayne Lucas, with whom
01:21:51he exchanged many quips over the years at sales and also around Saratoga.
01:21:56They eventually became good friends and even owned a horse together.
01:22:00Terry said about Lucas, rare is the person who makes every soul he meets feel like the
01:22:06most special in the world.
01:22:08Wayne did, and people will be telling coach stories a hundred years from now.
01:22:13Well done, Wayne.
01:22:14All the thrills, fraction of the bills, experience the power of the partnership, change your life,
01:22:32make new friends, and compete at the highest level of thoroughbred racing.
01:22:35West Point Thoroughbreds, the gold standard in racing partnerships.
01:22:42Visit westpointtv.com.
01:22:48And that'll do it for this week's edition of the TDN Writers' Room.
01:22:52Just a fantastic rendition of the memories of a true Hall of Famer, that being Dwayne Lucas.
01:22:59I'd just like to thank all our Gainesway guests of the week for joining us, including our editors
01:23:06that make this show go, Sue Finley, Katie Petruniak, Anthony, and Ali LaRocca.
01:23:11And one last thing, guys, before we go, I want to read a quote that I actually just found.
01:23:16And this is it from Dwayne Lucas.
01:23:19It says, if you want to be happy in life, lower your expectations.
01:23:24If you want to be great, raise them.
01:23:28Wow.
Be the first to comment
Add your comment

Recommended

Ahead of a Big Weekend, Kenny McPeek On TDN Writers' Room
thoroughbreddailynews
6 months ago
Remembering Brian Dennehy, Who Died at 81 | THR News
Hollywood Journal
7 weeks ago
Brad Cox Talks Further Ado, Hit Show on TDN Writers’ Room
thoroughbreddailynews
7 weeks ago
10 Times TV Shows Paid Tribute to Actors Who Passed Away
MsMojo
10 months ago
$3.2 Million Yearling-Turned- Sire Barnes New to Hill ‘n’ Dale
thoroughbreddailynews
1 day ago
With A Blend of Precocity and Durability, Beauvatier Takes Up Stud Duties at Etreham
thoroughbreddailynews
1 day ago
Bill Knauf Talks Maryland Racing on TDN Writers' Room
thoroughbreddailynews
3 days ago
Five Fastest Maidens for December 1 through January 4
thoroughbreddailynews
3 days ago
Bill Knauf Talks Maryland Racing as Gainesway Guest of the Week
thoroughbreddailynews
3 days ago
One Nine Hundred Gets One-Oh-Four Beyer
thoroughbreddailynews
3 days ago
PHBA for January 14
thoroughbreddailynews
3 days ago
1/ST Things 1/ST: Follow Along with So Happy in the San Vicente
thoroughbreddailynews
3 days ago
Writers' Room 316 Preview
thoroughbreddailynews
3 days ago
Darley’s First Mission and Highland Falls Provide Value for Breeders
thoroughbreddailynews
5 days ago
G2 Flying Childers Winner Aesterius Joins Bearstone
thoroughbreddailynews
1 week ago
John Sikura Talks Industry Issues, Solutions, on TDN Writers Room
thoroughbreddailynews
1 week ago
1/ST Things 1/ST: Racing Is Back at Santa Anita
thoroughbreddailynews
1 week ago
PHBA for January 7
thoroughbreddailynews
1 week ago
'Formidable' John Sikura the Gainesway Guest of the Week
thoroughbreddailynews
1 week ago
Stiglets: The First Fastest Horse of the Year
thoroughbreddailynews
1 week ago
Writers' Room 315 Preview
thoroughbreddailynews
1 week ago
Carl Spackler and Raging Torrent New to Lane's End
thoroughbreddailynews
2 weeks ago
Top 5 Medallion Moments of 2025
thoroughbreddailynews
4 weeks ago
Barton Back In The Stallion Business With Scorthy Champ
thoroughbreddailynews
4 weeks ago
Meet WinStar's Three New Grade I-Winning Stallions
thoroughbreddailynews
4 weeks ago