d. wayne lukas | Horse Racing Free Tips

Baffert: ‘The Most Crazy 30 Minutes I’ve Had In Racing’

It wasn't the usual morning-after scene around Barn 33 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on Sunday as only a smattering of media and cameras were on hand waiting for the shedrow's Hall of Fame trainer to lead out his latest Kentucky Derby hero. But after months of having one contender after another go by the wayside in the lead up the 146th edition of the “Run for the Roses”, Bob Baffert was never more thankful or grateful to show off a newly minted classic winner for the few who had gathered.

Baffert has brought many an elite horse out on the Churchill Downs backside the day after the Kentucky Derby but the look of admiration he cast in the direction of Authentic less than 24 hours after the colt's triumph in the 10-furlong test was one that spoke volumes about the journey to that point. The bay son of Into Mischief “wasn't even tired” according to his trainer after leading every point of call to defeat heavily favored Tiz the Law and 13 others en route to giving Baffert his record-tying sixth Kentucky Derby triumph.

Owned by Spendthrift Farm, My Racehorse, Madaket Stables, and Starlight Racing, Authentic capped off a wild 2020 Road to the Kentucky Derby for Baffert that saw the trainer lose highly regarded Nadal and Charlatan to injury earlier in the year. The drama didn't stop for Baffert even when he made it to the paddock for the race Saturday as his other Derby entrant this season, graded stakes winner Thousand Words, was a late scratch after rearing and flipping in the paddock — an incident that resulted in assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes suffering a broken wrist that will require surgery.

Even without 160,000 in the stands to watch as this year's Kentucky Derby was held without fans because of the coronavirus pandemic, Authentic managed to give his team a moment for the ages as he hit the wire 1 1/4 lengths in front.

“I couldn't believe it, I thought he might be a little tired today,” Baffert said of Authentic. “He came out of it well. Jimmy is going to need surgery, I think he'll need eight screws in his wrist but he actually was here this morning. He's a trooper. I was so emotional yesterday because I wanted (Barnes) to be there. To me, that was most emotional Derby I've ever been involved in because of what happened during that little time frame. It was the most crazy 30 minutes I've had in racing.

“Before May, I was looking so strong and then everything just went wrong,” Baffert continued. “And to pull it off like that was really exciting. Winning the Kentucky Derby is the biggest moment in a trainer's life. When you win it, it erases everything that has gone bad.”

With the Derby victory, Authentic not only answered the question of whether an offspring of Into Mischief could get 10 furlongs successfully, but he moved himself to the forefront of the sophomore male ranks having previously annexed the Haskell Stakes (G1), Sham Stakes (G3) and San Felipe Stakes (G2) this year. His only loss in six career starts came when he ran second to Honor A. P. in the June 6 Santa Anita Derby (G1) and he also gives B. Wayne Hughes' powerhouse Spendthrift Farm operation its first Derby triumph.

“It was all so unbelievable. I walked over with the Albaughs (co-owners of Thousand Words) and we're all enjoying the moment and then…the next thing you know (Thousand Words) exploded and went over,” said Mark Toothaker, stallion sales manager of Spendthrift Farm, which also co-owns Thousand Words. “The state vet walked over and said he was a scratch. So you had all the emotion of you are within 20 minutes of having a horse getting ready to run in the Kentucky Derby that we picked out and we're so excited and as we were walking through the tunnel, I said to our general manager Ned Toffey 'If there is a Derby God out there….maybe we can win.' For Authentic to just keep giving it in the stretch, it was like he had an extra push.”

A trip to Baltimore for the Preakness Stakes (GI) on Oct. 3 is slated as the next objective for both Authentic and Thousand Words, as the latter escaped his paddock fall without injury. Baffert said both colts will head over the shedrow of Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas to stay for the next few weeks as the legendary conditioner has offered to help oversee the duo so that Baffert doesn't have to ship them back to California in the interim.

“Being that the Preakness is a few weeks away, I thought it might be too hard on them to go back. So I have an assistant trainer, this D. Wayne Lukas guy here,” Baffert joked. “So they're going to be in Wayne's barn. We're going to run them out of here. If they're working well and all going well, they'll go to the Preakness. I didn't want to take them all the way to California and back. I want to give them every opportunity.

“We're planning on both if they're doing well. Thousand Woods we'll give him another chance at it. He didn't have a scratch on him.”

Even though he was flying back to California Sunday morning to spend part of his birthday, Jimmy Barnes was back to work dark and early Sunday morning, albeit in a compromised capacity. Barnes said he wasn't going to say anything about his broken right wrist — and he's right-handed — but he rolled up his sleeve and saw it at the wrong angle. He said he watched the Derby on a phone in the ambulance on his way to Norton Audubon Hospital. He said the ER personnel knew he was connected to the Derby winner, and that the ER doctor actually was a co-breeder of Baffert's two-time Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Midnight Lute.

“I didn't have to go (to the hospital). I could have watched it on a TV,” Barnes said. “I said, 'Just get me over there and I can watch it on my phone.' Heck, what was I going to do, run out to the winner's circle and everything? My hand was pointing this way.”

Asked if the hospital staff was aware Barnes was connected to the Derby winner, he said: “Oh yeah, my doctor bred Midnight Lute, he was a partner on Midnight Lute's breeding and a horse we had called Socialbug

“We won. What a great race. I was in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. I was watching it on a phone. I would have wanted to stay, but I wanted to get out of there also. I didn't want to prolong the situation. I knew what I was in for. I was probably going to be at the ER, I thought I'd be there a lot longer than I actually was. They put me out, reset it, wrapped it up, so I had to wait, because they won't just release you once they do that. If it would have been my first Derby, they all mean a lot to me, but there were people there representing. I said, 'They got it covered.'”

Barnes' first Derby with Baffert was in 1999 with General Challenge and his first Derby winner with Baffert was War Emblem in 2002.

“That being said, I really wanted to stay, because it is an emotional thing,” Barnes said. “It was important to me to get started on this immediately so I could get back to the barn. That's what was going through my head. When it happened, I wasn't going to say anything. I was going to say I was OK. I knew it kind of hurt. Then I pulled my sleeve up and saw it was pointing a different direction. So I pulled it back down and said, 'I better say something.' ”

“Then (Baffert) got knocked around and the owner got stepped on (in the winner's circle).”

Was Barnes surprised by Authentic's performance?

“Well, he didn't surprise me, the way he trains and the way you watch him move. He's just this big leaper. He's got a huge stride on him,” Barnes said. “He just got out there motoring along. Johnny V rode him superbly. He committed early and if you're going to go with him you're going to be running fast. So they kind of backed off a bit, from what I saw. When they turned for home, he was headed. That horse was there. For him to straighten out and switch leads, because you look at his earlier races and he was very erratic in the stretch in numerous races. Even Mike (Smith) had some issues in New Jersey (winning the Haskell), and Drayden (Van Dyke) had some issues. But Johnny V, when he pulled his stick through to the left hand and got after him, boy, he just leveled out and said, 'They're not going by me today.' ”

“You can be on the floor and then be up in the sky soaring,” Barnes said of the highs and lows racing can bring.

The post Baffert: ‘The Most Crazy 30 Minutes I’ve Had In Racing’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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‘He’s A Remarkable Man’: Pletcher Grateful For Hall Of Fame Assistance With Derby Contender Money Moves

Robert LaPenta and Bortolazzo Stable's Money Moves had one of the most heralded set of eyes in the sport keeping watch on him as he got his first feel of the Churchill Downs track during his gallop on Wednesday.

With his trainer Todd Pletcher remaining in New York at his Saratoga base this week, the lightly raced son of Candy Ride (ARG) is having his Kentucky Derby preparations handled by the legend that is Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas. That Lukas is now acting as an “assistant” of sorts for Pletcher is the equivalent of Obi Wan Kenobi readying Luke Skywalker's light saber given that the latter famously cut his teeth working for the four-time Kentucky Derby winning trainer.

“I just did what I was told,” said Lukas, who celebrated his 85th birthday Wednesday. “I sent him out there and he had a good maintenance gallop. We'll school him in the gate tomorrow. Todd just said 'Run him like you would any of your others'.”

“First of all he's a great friend for doing it,” Pletcher added by phone. “They've gone out of their way to accommodate us. Part of the decision making process of going with this horse was that one of the challenges was with the staff. It's been a difficult time for our staff in general all year losing the visa workers and (Lukas) was able to accommodate us and, that way, we don't have to go through the quarantine process coming back.”

Lukas recently returned to his barn after battling the COVID-19 virus, and he makes no bones about how hard the illness hit him. The resilience Lukas has shown in his recovery, however, is par for the course for the man who had made a career out of pulling off extraordinary feats.

“He's a remarkable man. My biggest concern was I knew he had a bout with COVID-19 and I didn't want to be a burden in any way on him,” Pletcher said. “But I could tell from talking to him that his voice was strong and he was feeling good compared to the week before. That was my main concern was I didn't want to be a burden for him.”

Money Moves comes into Saturday with just three career starts to his credit and none against stakes company. The bay colt has held his own against older horses, though, finishing second last time out in an allowance optional claiming race at Saratoga on July 25.

“He came into us with high expectations and I thought he ran very impressively to win his first two races,” Pletcher said. “Unfortunately after that he got sick and we missed several weeks of training so it kind of knocked out the original schedule that we hoped for.

“By the time we got him back, we were in kind of a difficult position because we didn't feel like he was quite ready to run in the Peter Pan off the long layoff. We were in a tough spot. We ran him 1 1/8 miles first time around two turns against older horses and he fared pretty well. It was a very tough race, he was almost able to win and his figures came back strong. After that, it started to look like it might not take any points to get into the Derby, so the ownership group expressed interest in monitoring how he's training and he trained well. We got together after his last breeze and weighed the pros and cons and they felt like we don't get these opportunities but once in a horse's life, so let's take a shot.”

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After COVID-19 Recovery, Lukas Urges Others: Don’t Get Complacent With This Virus

At the age of 85, trainer D. Wayne Lukas told reporters at Churchill Downs this week he thinks he was already pretty good at appreciating each day in the barn, but a recent bout of COVID-19 has made him even more thankful to be there.

Lukas recently tested negative and returned to work after what he estimates was 15 to 20 days away from the barn – a major departure for a trainer who prides himself on being out on the pony before the sun is up each day. The Hall of Famer said that he went to the hospital after feeling ill and was initially told it was unlikely he had the novel coronavirus. The hospital sent him home. A few hours later, someone at the facility called and told him his test had come back positive. By then, Lukas already suspected that was the case.

Lukas said he struggled mightily to breathe, experienced gastrointestinal symptoms, and felt extremely weak. He did not experience joint aches and pains or lose his sense of smell and taste, as is commonly reported among those with mild cases.

“It affects everybody differently,” Lukas said. “It affected me very strongly. I got really sick.

“I don't think we really know a lot about it. even the medical people I think are still learning. That's going to make the vaccine, if we get it, it's going to be more difficult I think because I don't think they've got a good handle on it.”

At times, he said he faded in and out of consciousness.

“I felt like I was drifting away,” he recalled. “You just wish you could get one breath of air.”

Strangely, Lukas said his wife Laurie tested negative for COVID-19, despite being in close proximity to him throughout his illness. He also knows of others who have tested positive but never had symptoms.

Lukas said he has no idea how he picked up the virus, as he has strictly followed social distancing protocols at work each day and has refrained from going out to restaurants. When he's out at morning training, Lukas is usually on his pony, which creates an automatic six-foot perimeter around him, so he thought he had been sufficiently careful.

When he did begin to feel better, Lukas said he still kept away from his barn a few extra days to avoid transmitting the virus to his staff. Now, he said his energy levels are finally back where they should be.

As masking and distancing requirements drag on more than six months after the pandemic began, Lukas said he wants fans to know that although it's easy to get weary and less careful, it's important to continue doing everything they can to avoid transmitting COVID-19 to others.

“I just think people should not take it for granted or get complacent,” he said. “I'd keep my distance, wear my mask. I wouldn't tempt fate. I wouldn't give it a chance in any way, shape or form. If I could say one thing to people, I see people taking it lightly and I think that's a mistake, whether you're my age or 20.”

Thanks to the National Turfwriters and Broadcasters Association (NTWAB), which has assembled a group of pool reporters providing independent reporting to members unable to be on the Churchill Downs grounds this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

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Lukas Back in the Saddle

The past two weeks has proven a veritable roller coaster ride for Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas. After opting to keep his operation in Kentucky for the summer rather than shift to upstate New York as he has done for over the past four decades, Lukas admitted that earlier this month, he began to feel less that ‘perfect,’ although he didn’t present any of the classic symptoms that went with COVID-19. At least not initially.

“I was being checked at the gate every day and I didn’t have a temperature and I didn’t really have any of the other symptoms, but [wife] Laurie and I decided I should get a test with [Kentucky] Derby week coming up,” recalled Lukas. “My granddaughter, who is a PA [physcian assistant] told me not to mess with getting in line to have a test and said I should come straight to the hospital and we’d have it done quickly.”

He continued, “While I was at the hospital, they found I had some fluid around my heart, which was probably a result of the broken ribs [sustained during a fall from his pony at Churchill Downs last month] that hadn’t fully healed. At that point, they concentrated on the heart and didn’t think it was [coronavirus]. They did all these tests for my heart and treated me for that, and since they didn’t think I had the virus, they sent me home. Later that night, all hell broke loose.”

And things quickly went from bad to worse.

“They later called me and told me I tested positive for the virus. And believe me, they didn’t have to call me to tell me that. I felt it. The first two nights were so critical, and I couldn’t get my air. I would have done anything to have access to a ventilator at that point. You feel like you’re drowning. But once I got through those two nights, I just needed to rest and get my strength back. Once you get through that critical period, even something like putting on your tennis shoes is a major task.”

“The doctors had recommended that I didn’t go back to the track for 14 days and I was in complete agreement,” he said with a laugh. “I have now spoken to several people who have had the virus and it seems to affect people in such different ways. For some it’s severe and others it’s not. For me, it was severe. If it had hit me any harder, we wouldn’t be talking right now.”

Following over two weeks on the sidelines, Lukas, armed with a follow-up ‘negative’ COVID test result, returned to the barn this week.

“I felt much better and was ready to go back, so I just saddled up and got back in the saddle,” said Lukas, who will be celebrating his 85th birthday Sept. 2. “I am not walking around too much and still taking it easy, but I am getting better every day on that count.”

This summer, Lukas campaigned his horses at Ellis Park, where he currently stands in third behind Brad Cox and Ken McPeek in earnings. He is also two wins away from McPeek, who has accounted for nine wins [as of Aug. 25] at the summer meeting.

“I’m back training and the horses are running well,” he said. “We’ve had a good meet so far and I think we have some live horses for this weekend. We also have a good lineup [Kentucky] Derby week, so we’re looking forward to that.”

In regards to the change in plans for the team this summer, he explained, “Aside from [the illness], I think staying in Kentucky this summer was the right decision. Our help was very concerned about shipping into New York, not so much the racetrack but more the community itself. We obviously have a lot of our equipment still in Saratoga, and we’ll be back next summer, but I think we really did the right thing in staying in Kentucky. Ellis has been good to us.”

Based at Churchill Downs since his return to Kentucky earlier this spring, Lukas indicated the team’s runners would continue the familiar protocol of shipping in to Keeneland to race this fall and closing out Churchill’s fall meet before returning to his winter base at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas in December.

With the worst of it in the rearview mirror, Lukas reflected on some of the struggles stemming from his recent health scare, admitting that the main component that has kept barn operations running smoothly while he convalesced was his team.

“You have to have a key person in your operation,” he said. “Over the years I had many of those people, and now I have Bas [Nicholl]. When the virus hit, I absolutely depended on him. I think we’re going to have to bronze him and put him in the infield or something like that.”

And while the barn had been observing the strict protocols in place throughout the pandemic, Lukas said he recognized that the virus was a formidable foe and not one to be taken for granted.

“The folks at Churchill have a force back there to make sure that everybody is following the rules, and our barn was really good on the front,” he said. “We were very adamant on everybody wearing their mask and have hand sanitizer available on all four corners of the barn. But once it gets you, it’s got you.”

He was asked if he has any advice for those who might be tempted to cut corners or ignore the pandemic protocols.

“The one thing I would tell everyone is to seriously not under estimate the COVID-19 virus. Whatever you do, don’t take it lightly. It gets on top of you quick and you might not be able to get out from under it.”

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