Riding His Luck in Preakness

In the early 1990s, the hits just kept coming for Wayne Lukas’ stable.

Not win after win in major races, but hits below the belt, blows that virtually made an ordinary outfit out of what had been a racing monolith for a decade.

The resourceful Lukas is now back big-time, on a roll that has made the Triple Crown series his private preserve. The 60-year-old trainer will saddle three horses today--two fewer than in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago--as he tries to win his fifth Preakness and seventh consecutive Triple Crown race.

Even Lukas, a self-promoter of the first order, is overwhelmed by what his four horses--Tabasco Cat, Thunder Gulch, Timber Country and Grindstone--have done since the Preakness of 1994.

“Statistically, the odds keep going up on us keeping this [streak] going,” Lukas said at his Pimlico barn Friday. “Before this year’s Derby, the numbers out of Las Vegas were 5-1 that we’d keep going and 4-1 against. I thought they forgot to add a couple of zeros to that [calculation]. But--boom--we did it again, with Grindstone, so those guys were right on the money again.”

Lukas’ three horses in today’s Preakness--Prince Of Thieves, Editor’s Note and Victory Speech--are 5-2, 6-1 and 30-1, respectively, on the morning line. Cavonnier, loser by a nose to the since-retired Grindstone in the Derby, is listed as the 9-5 favorite, but Lukas says that Prince Of Thieves, third in the Derby, might be the shortest price by the time a crowd of more than 90,000 cheers the 12 starters into the gate.

The Pimlico track was muddy at the start of Friday’s card, and there’s a good chance that the Preakness will be run on an off track for the first time since 1983. The forecast is for 80-degree temperatures and scattered thundershowers.

There were dark clouds over the already beleaguered Lukas here in 1993, when Union City, a promising colt, broke down on the backstretch and was destroyed with a lethal injection. That was more vinegar to swallow for Lukas, who since 1990 had been rocked by:

--The death of Gene Klein, the deepest-pocketed of Lukas’ horse-buying clients.

--The demise of storied Calumet Farm, which went out of business owing Lukas unsecured debts that have been estimated at $2.6-3.1 million.

--A two-year drop in annual purse winnings from $15.9 million to $4.1 million, which in 1993 left the Lukas barn out of the No. 1 spot for the first time in 11 years.

--A near-fatal injury to Jeff Lukas, the trainer’s son and No. 1 assistant, who was run over by Tabasco Cat in their barn at Santa Anita.

--A 31-month stretch without a winner in a Grade I race.

By early 1994, Lukas was still struggling. Rumors were rampant that the former quarter horse trainer was having trouble paying his bills. Then, in an irony of ironies, Tabasco Cat, won the Preakness and became the lightning rod for the Lukas revival.

“Wayne is Darth Vader,” said trainer Nick Zito, who won the Derby with Go For Gin in 1994 but couldn’t beat Tabasco Cat in either the Preakness or the Belmont Stakes. “So you know he just had to come back.”

Stable purses returned to eight-digit levels in 1995, the year after Lukas was the national leader for the 11th time. Some friends of Lukas say he is still in debt, at a time when his third marriage is breaking up, but the trainer himself, while reluctant to discuss financial details, says that even during the hard times of the early ‘90s, things were never dire.

“We had to reevaluate the program and do some belt-tightening,” Lukas said. “But I don’t even like to refer to those years as a slump--that will have to be somebody else’s words. Sports Illustrated turned an investigative reporter loose on what amounted to a witch hunt, and what did he find? Not much. My vendors were coming to me, asking what they should tell the guy, and I told them to tell him whatever the situation was.

“I’m proud of the fact, though, that I survived all that. There aren’t many guys that could take a hit like I did from Calumet and still be standing here.”

At one stage, Lukas was advertising for clients in trade publications.

“That was somebody else’s idea,” he said. “I went along with it, but those ads didn’t bring us one extra owner.”

By the late 1980s, Lukas was already training for W.T. Young’s Overbrook Farm, and the Lexington (Ky.) horseman is now Lukas’ biggest client. Young has raced Tabasco Cat and Grindstone and was one of the investors in Timber Country. Editor’s Note, who ran sixth in the Derby--his eighth consecutive loss--will run in Young’s colors today.

“People ask me why I stayed with Wayne when he wasn’t doing that well and I say, ‘Why wouldn’t I stay with him?’ ” Young said. “I watched Babe Ruth play late in his career, and even he went into slumps.

“I’ve always enjoyed a good rapport with Wayne. Whether he’s on an ego trip is immaterial. He has all the ingredients of an outstanding trainer and that’s what’s important. It wasn’t his idea to run Union City in the Preakness, it was mine, and there’s no doubt in my mind that that colt was a sound horse going into the race.”

Although Pat Day is one of the most successful Preakness jockeys and has won at Pimlico with Tank’s Prospect, Tabasco Cat and Timber Country, Lukas pulled him off Prince Of Thieves after the Derby and named Jerry Bailey, who won with Grindstone, as his replacement.

Day has four victories and three seconds with 10 Preakness mounts, and his horse today becomes Louis Quatorze, who is a reasonable 8-1 on the morning line, more because of his jockey than that 16th-place finish in the Derby.

“I’ll take full credit--or blame--for this move,” Lukas said. “It’s like having two quarterbacks and only being able to play one. This is no reflection on the way Pat has been riding. In fact, he’s been on a tear ever since I made the change, so maybe I’ve made a mistake. But I had to take Bailey when he was available.”

As is his Preakness custom, Lukas and his horses didn’t arrive from Churchill Downs until Thursday, later than most trainers ship for a big race.

Lukas got off the plane wearing an updated version of the baseball cap he had worn at the Derby. This one has six stars across the top and reads “6 Crowns.” It’s in black and yellow, colors that agree with the Preakness motif. It will take a little less than two minutes this afternoon to determine whether any of his horses do.

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Horse Racing Notes

Wayne Lukas saddled Cara Rafaela, the even-money favorite in Friday’s $200,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, but after leading at the top of the stretch, she finished second to Mesabi Maiden, beaten by one length. Mesabi Maiden, trained by Shug McGaughey and ridden by Mike Smith, had won two of nine starts and was third in her only previous stakes start. She paid $30.40 to win, running 1 1/8 miles in 1:51 on a muddy track. Cara Rafaela has been beaten six consecutive times, finishing second four times, since winning the Hollywood Starlet in December. Ginny Lynn finished third. . . . Serena’s Song, winner of last year’s Black-Eyed Susan for Lukas, will be the odds-on favorite today in the Pimlico Distaff Handicap. Carrying 123 pounds, she’ll spot her four opponents between six and nine pounds.

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Preakness Field

The field for today’s 121st Preakness Stakes, with post position, horse’s name, jockey’s name and odds:

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Horse Jockey Odds 1. Allied Forces Migliore 30-1 2. Cavonnier McCarron 9-5 3. Victory Speech Douglas 30-1 4. In Contention Solis 20-1 5. Secreto De Estado CVelasquez 50-1 6. Louis Quatorze Day 8-1 7. Feather Box JVelasquez 50-1 8. Mixed Count Prado 20-1 9. Prince Of Thieves Bailey 5-2 10. Editor’s Note Stevens 6-1 11. Skip Away Sellers 6-1 12. Tour’s Big Red Bravo 15-1

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Trainers (by post position): 1. Kiaran McLaughlin. 2. Bob Baffert. 3. Wayne Lukas. 4. Cynthia Reese. 5. Alfredo Callejas. 6. Nick Zito. 7. Angel Cordero. 8. Ron Benshoff. 9. Wayne Lukas. 10. Wayne Lukas. 11. Sonny Hine. 12. Enrique Alonso.

Weights: Each 126 pounds. Distance: 1 3/16 miles. Purse: $704,800 if 12 start. First place: $458,120. Post time: 2:32 p.m. PDT. TV: Ch. 7 (coverage begins at 1:30)

Six of the Best

Trainer Wayne Lukas’ record six-race winning streak in the Triple Crown series: *--*

Race Horse Jockey 1994 Preakness Tabasco Cat Pat Day 1994 Belmont Tabasco Cat Pat Day 1995 Derby Thunder Gulch Gary Stevens 1995 Preakness Timber Country Pat Day 1995 Belmont Thunder Gulch Gary Stevens 1996 Derby Grindstone Jerry Bailey

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