Lukas Keeps Winning the Little Big Ones : 2 Victories, 2 Seconds, 1 Third and $1.57 Million: For Critics, It’s Not Enough

Some will look at it as just another payday at the races for trainer Wayne Lukas, he of sound mind and sound horses.

Saturday, Cool Hand Lukas, saddlebags sufficiently stuffed with money, walked away from this year’s Breeders’ Cup with reputation intact as the world’s greatest money-making horse trainer.

His horses earned $1.57 million in purses Saturday, pushing Lukas over the $10-million mark for the season.

No doubt about it. When it comes to raking in cash, nobody does it better than Lukas, a cinch to win his third straight earnings title this year.

There he was again Saturday, basking in the glory of the latest and most chic of days in thoroughbred racing.

Lukas, whose horses will average about $1 million in monthly earnings by year’s end, had 10 horses entered in the first five races at Aqueduct.

In other words, his Breeders’ Cup ranneth over.

When day turned to night and the wagering was over, Lukas-trained horses had two wins, two seconds and a third.

He thought it was a big enough deal to boast about.

“I was very satisfied with the day,” Lukas said. “I didn’t come in thinking we had to win one or two or three races. . . . To win two races is unbelievable.”

But despite his huge monetary success, Lukas spends much of the time in postrace press conferences defending himself. He has, deservedly or not, achieved a tag in some racing circles as a trainer who can’t win the big one.

How many Kentucky Derbies have you won, Wayne? None? Oh, excuse me. Could you tell us where we might find Bill Shoemaker?

The knock against Lukas is that he’s like the golfer who wins the PGA money title by piling up victories in tournaments such as the Quad Cities Open but can’t make the cut at the British Open.

Even if the rap were true, Lukas would join elite company. There are some who still claim that Stan Musial couldn’t hit in the clutch. One baseball scribe once wrote that the best way to pitch to Rod Carew is with men on base. Minnesota Vikings Coach Bud Grant probably won’t rest easy until he wins a Super Bowl.

Lukas says you can’t let it get to you.

“I try to keep from getting too high or low in this business,” Lukas said. “It’s like a roller-coaster ride. It can devastate you mentally.”

But Lukas would really like people to cut him some slack.

“All the guys I envy have been at this for 40 years,” Lukas said.

A point well taken.

Lukas has been in the thoroughbred business only since 1978, when he made the switch from training quarter horses.

And considering that he’s a relative newcomer to the business, well, the record speaks for itself.

Lukas is in the midst of the greatest year a trainer has ever had. He already has set a record for most stakes wins in a single season.

And he has won some big races, including two Preaknesses, two Arkansas Derbies, a Santa Anita Derby and a Hollywood Derby, to name a few.

Lukas, though, didn’t have a horse in Saturday’s featured race, the $3-million Breeders’ Cup Classic.

His top prospect for the race, Preakness winner Tank’s Prospect, broke down in the Belmont and had to be retired.

Saturday, Lukas got his first win in the second race--the $1-million Juvenile Fillies--with Twilight Ridge, ridden by Jorge Velasquez.

He and owner Gene Klein had another winner with Life’s Magic in the $1-million fifth race, the Distaff.

Lukas and Klein, in fact, pretty much had a monopoly in this race. The second-place Distaff finisher, Lady’s Secret, also is owned by Klein and trained by Lukas.

The other second-place finisher for Lukas was Family Style, ridden by Laffit Pincay, who finished behind Twilight Ridge in the second race.

Mt. Livermore, a Lukas-trained horse ridden by Velasquez, finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint behind Smile and winner Precisionist.

Owner Klein, who has formed a fruitful, lucrative partnership with Lukas, has no complaints at all.

“The guy works 20 hours a day,” Klein said of Lukas. “He’s terribly competent.”

Maybe someday, when Lukas quits winning so much money and strings together a Kentucky Derby or two, he’ll quit having to defend himself on days when he should be gloating.

Maybe someday, that is, when he’s no longer the new kid on the block, and expectations aren’t so high.

“There are so many good people out there,” Lukas said. “I’ve been blessed with good financial backing. But maybe 35 or 40 years from now, people will sit down over a cup of coffee and say we were pretty good horse people.”