Rastall Ramblings: Legendary Horse Racing Trainer Had Deep Wisconsin Roots

When you think of horse racing hotbeds, Wisconsin isn’t necessarily one of the states that immediately jumps to mind. But one of the sport’s greatest icons, the late D. Wayne Lukas, had deep roots to Wisconsin.

Lukas, a Hall of Fame trainer who was one of the most accomplished in the history of horse racing, died this past weekend at the age of 89 following a recent hospitalization for a severe MRSA blood infection.

Before becoming one of the faces of horse racing, Lukas was born and raised in Antigo, a small city in northeast Wisconsin that historically is one of the more popular spots in the state for horse racing.

His Antigo farming roots began Lukas’s interest in horses, though he went to the University of Wisconsin–Madson to receive his undergraduate education. In the late 1950s, he was a teacher in Blair, where he also coached basketball, football and track.

Lukas returned to UW–Madison as a graduate student, completing a master’s degree in education and serving as an assistant to Wisconsin freshman basketball coach Johnny Orr, who went on to serve as the head coach at both Michigan and Iowa State.

Upon completing his master’s degree, Lukas again made his way back to western Wisconsin to teach and coach basketball at Logan High School in La Crosse. After six years in that role — during which he dabbled in horse training on a part-time basis — Lukas left to pursue horse racing as a full-time passion that blossomed into one of the most decorated and successful careers of any trainer in the sport’s history.

Horses trained by Lukas won 15 Triple Crown races (seven wins in the Preakness States and four wins each in both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes), 20 Breeders’ Cup races and nearly 5,000 thoroughbred races total.

From his first Triple Crown win in the 1980 Preakness States with Codex to his 15th and final one at last year’s Preakness Stakes with Seize the Grey, Lukas became one of the sport’s most successful and influential figures. At one time he courted controversy due to his intense training methods and single-minded focus on his profession but would later become a more revered elder statesman as time went on.

The aviator sunglasses and cowboy hat made Lukas an instantly recognizable figure whether you were a horse racing diehard or merely someone who tuned in for the sport’s biggest days on the calendar.

Lukas was known by many simply as “Coach” — a nod to his high school basketball coaching career that began right here in Trempealeau County before his rocket ship ride to horse racing stardom.