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Nick Luck Joins the TDN Writers’ Room, Talks BC European Contingent

The Green Group Guest of the Week on the latest edition of the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland, commentator Nick Luck, who works both sides of the Atlantic, was asked what are the best storylines out of Europe when it comes to this year's Breeders' Cup. With a deep and talented group of shippers coming to Keeneland, there was no shortage of answers, starting with the story of Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night of Thunder {Ire}).

“I think Highfield Princess is right up there as one of the great storylines,” Luck said of the Europen sprinting star who will contest the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. “She's in the Turf Sprint against Golden Pal, so this is one of those races where you can genuinely say the best American in his or her division is facing the best European in his or her division, both with brazen speed. That sets up as a perfect clash. You have the Coolmore ownership on one hand with Golden Pal against the slightly more blue collar origins on the other. It's got everything that a Breeders Cup race should have.”

Then there's jockey Hollie Doyle. She could have two favorites in Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf and The Platinum Queen (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

“Hollie Doyle is the most successful female jockey that's ever been in Europe,” Luck said. “She's a ground-breaker, someone who's really threatened to shatter the glass ceiling more than any other female rider has before. She's got meaningful chances with The Platinum Queen and Nashwa in the in the Breeders Cup Filly & Mare Turf, and that's a race that will test her a little bit more against some of the best American turf riders. So we'll see what she's made of tactically there.”

Trainer Charlie Appleby will be well represented with a group led by Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), the likely favorite in the Breeders' Cup Mile. Appleby is 14-for-28 in North America since 2021, including wins with Modern Games, Space Blues (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Yibir (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in last year's Breeders' Cup. He is making it look easy.

“If you have the depth of talent that he has, obviously, that makes it easier,” Luck said. “But there have been plenty of high-profile trainers who've had the patronage of high-profile owners before who haven't done as well as him. Even Aidan O'Brien, who has a great record in the United States, pales by comparison when you look at strike rates. One of the things that motivates Appleby most is finding the right opportunities for his horses. And if he has a whole bunch of Grade I or Grade II horses finding where they fit best. He likes to use the international calendar to exploit that. If he has three dozen beautifully bred horses by Dubawi, he knows he can't target them all at the British classics. They'll find their natural metier running in those turf races in the United States. He's just exploited that to a tee. Then he gets them to get confident, then they get better still.

Elsewhere on the show, panelists Randy Moss, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley took a look back at the stunning defeat suffered by Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the GI Champion S. at Ascot and a look ahead at the prospective fields for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. The podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, XBTV, The Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, Three Chimneys, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, also included a discussion of what's next for Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, whose return is unclear after he recently served a 60-day suspension. The writers jumped on the opportunity to implore other states beyond Kentucky to give the bettors a break and revert to penny breakage, but didn't hold out much hope that it would happen. The penny breakage system in Kentucky has meant an additional $1.1 million has been returned to bettors since the system was implemented at the start of the Ellis Park meet.

Click here to watch the podcast and here to listen.

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D. Wayne and Laurie Lukas Join ‘Let’s Talk’

The TDN's 'Let's Talk'–a podcast series featuring TDN's Christina Bossinakis and TVG's on-air analyst Gabby Gaudet, offers candid discussion on personal and professional issues often faced within the racing community.

The latest edition features Hall of Fame horseman D. Wayne Lukas, who collected his latest Grade I victory with Secret Oath in the May 6 Kentucky Oaks.

Wayne Lukas is no stranger to success. Inducted into racing's Hall of Fame in 1999, the Antigo, Wisconsin native has spent over four decades reshaping and even defining the sport of horse racing. And while the victories may not be as plentiful as they may have once been, the 86-year-old continues to find himself on center stage on the big days, as was the case with Secret Oath when running fourth in the latest running of the GI Preakness S. While many other octogenarians are content with enjoying the fruits of their labors in retirement, Lukas continues to forge ahead with the same passion and intensity that he displayed during the zenith of his training career.

“I still get up at 3:30 every morning and now at my age, that alarm doesn't go off–I usually beat it,” he said. “But if it does go off, at 3:30 in the morning at my age, you might [want to] tip back and say, 'Woah boy.” But I refuse to let myself do that. I refuse to let the old man in.”

Well lauded for the string of assistants who have gone on to become top-level trainers in their own right, Lukas remains very forthright about the influence he has tried to exact over his team throughout the years. The one-time basketball coach underscored that it wasn't only the star graduates like Todd Pletcher, Kiaran McLaughlin, Dallas Stewart, et al that he tried to mentor, but also the ones that may not have been able to reach the heights of some of their contemporaries. Often referred to as 'The Coach,' Lukas has certainly earned that moniker.

“It bothered me that I was able to develop six or seven kids and give them a certain experience and there were seven or eight or 10 on the team that I really couldn't influence in that area,” he explained. “They just weren't good enough but they were good, hard-working kids. Kids that had the dream as much as the ones that were playing. And it always bothered me a little bit. I tried to influence all my players.”

And that philosophy branched over to racing.

“So when I got into horse racing, I was very upset if we had two or three horses that didn't turn out, especially if I bought them. And I wanted to make everyone of them profitable.”

Also during the discussion, Lukas addressed several of the pressures of training, often magnified with age, and many of the present-day player's tendency to migrate toward a younger trainer with a higher win percentage.

He said, “When you get to my age, most people wonder, is he out? Is he still doing it? They often turn to a younger person.”

Later in the program, Lukas is joined by his wife, Laurie. Candid about her first impression of Lukas, the lifelong horsewoman was quick to point out that the man was, in many ways, quite different than that of his public persona.

“When I first met him, it was just a chance meeting and I wasn't super impressed..I thought he was really full of himself,” she admitted. “I'd known of him for years and years like everyone else. I just thought he had a bit of an ego.”

She continued, “But the first time we had a conversation on the phone, it was a totally different deal. He has so much depth. The conversations were fascinating. He's so engaging and very intelligent. And that was my surprise. I didn't expect that.”

And what makes the relationship work?

“I have such great respect for her as a horseperson,” affirmed Lukas. “I don't have to go home at night and hold a clinic or a seminar on what we're trying to do or where we're trying t go.”

Laurie added, “We both get it. I understand that passion and that drive. And I won't be complaining about why we can't go to dinner tonight or why we can't do this or that because I get it. That really helps.”

The show is sponsored by 1/ST Racing and Healthnetics.

To watch the entire 'Let's Talk' podcast, click here. And for the audio only version, click here.

The post D. Wayne and Laurie Lukas Join ‘Let’s Talk’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Terry Finley Previews Flightline’s Met Mile on the TDN Writers’ Room

The long-anticipated return of undefeated superstar Flightline draws more excitement by the day, especially now that the John Sadler-trained son of Tapit has arrived at Belmont Park in preparation for Saturday's GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. Terry Finley, whose West Point Thoroughbreds campaigns Flightline along with Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, Summer Wind Equine and Woodford Racing, has been counting down the days until the Met Mile for quite some time. Finley joined this week's TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to chat with hosts Joe Bianca and Bill Finley about the upcoming showdown between Flightline and his top competitors.

“When you think about the race on Saturday, it's not a gimme,” admitted West Point's President and CEO. “I wish it was, but it's not. They don't give million-dollar races away for free. We've got other Grade I winners in there including Breeders' Cup Champion Aloha West (Hard Spun) and Speaker's Corner (Street Sense), who is one of the most talented horses that we've seen in a while. We're going to have to show up in a big way on Saturday. I think we will but man, it's going be a heck of a race.”

Asked about where Flightline could wind up next assuming all goes well in the Met Mile, Finley could not give a definitive answer.

“I really have not posed that question to anybody in the partnership or to John Sadler,” Finley said. “I know John has been thinking about it. I've always thought John was a great trainer and a great person, but to see him perform over the last 18 months has been otherworldly. Obviously he's thinking about either Del Mar or Saratoga and I'll leave it up to him because he has made the right choice step after step after step. We'll put our trust and our confidence in John and his team to do the right thing by this horse.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, Lane's End, XBTV, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers previewed the GI Belmont S. and the rest of Saturday's card at Belmont, but lamented the small field sizes in some of the day's most prestigious races. Click here to watch the show; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Kiaran McLaughlin Joins TDN’s ‘Let’s Talk’

The latest edition features longtime trainer-turned-jockey agent Kiaran McLaughlin, who represents one of the nation's top riders, Luis Saez, winner of Friday's GI Kentucky Oaks aboard Secret Oath, trained by McLaughlin's former mentor D. Wayne Lukas.

Kiaran McLaughlin has pretty much seen and done it all in the sport of horse racing. From his earliest days as a hot walker and later as an assistant to a host of successful trainers, including Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, McLaughlin rounded out a 30-year career as a trainer–featuring a sparkling clientele roster including Dubai's ruling Maktoum family–to take the book of one of the nation's leading jockeys, Luis Saez, in 2020. In their first full year as a team, Saez rounded out the 2021 season in third with over $26 million in earnings.

“Wayne taught me about everything that I learned about horse training and horsemanship,” said McLaughlin about his former boss and mentor. “He was fabulous to be around every day. The feed program was great and then going out on my own, I tweaked it a little bit.. [Wayne] was a real pleasure and a great person to be around. So was Sheikh Hamdan. Those are two very important people in my life.”

According to McLaughlin, the experience gained while serving under Lukas's son and first lieutenant Jeff Lukas, who was tragically injured by subsequent Classic winner Tabasco Cat in 1993, in addition to the comradery developed with his peers in the Lukas camp, left an indelible mark on his career.

“We all looked after each other, or we tried to,” he recalled. “And we worked for Jeff Lukas, too. He is no longer with us. He was a great influence on all of us and was fabulous horse trainer. The work ethic is probably the most important thing. Wayne didn't ask you to do anything that he wasn't willing to do. Like picking [him] up at 2:15 in the morning before we fly to Churchill for the Derby. I had to do that once or twice. Wayne was a workaholic and we all worked together and tried to help each other.”

And while many would consider McLaughlin's life a charmed one, it hasn't always been glass-like seas for the 61-year-old, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1998. Rarely seen without a smile on his face and a kind word for a peer, McLaughlin has taken the ups and downs in racing in stride.

“I've always been positive and I like to say I have M.S., but it doesn't have me,” he said. “I love what I'm doing, and that's why I didn't retire altogether. I love going to the track every day and seeing all my friends and having fun.”

Among the factors contributing to his retirement from training, McLaughlin faced another setback in 2020 when he was fined by New York Department of Labor for a 'violation of minimum wage requirements.”

“I felt like my feelings were hurt and that I got kicked in the stomach,” he admitted. “They fined me $300,000 and acted like I was stealing wages from my help, who were with me for 20 years. If I was stealing anything, they wouldn't have stayed with me for those that many years.”

However, despite the bumps he has encountered along the way, McLaughlin asserts that he isn't going anywhere any time soon.

“It's a passion and a lifestyle, and once it's in your blood, you want to do it-it's great,” he explained.

“I had some good kids working for me, and I wanted them to be trainers, especially now that I'm an agent. I need trainers to train the horses,” he added with a chuckle. “But it's not easy, that's for sure.”

The show is sponsored by 1/ST Racing, home to the May 21 GI Preakness S., and Healthnetics.

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