Letter To The Editor: Hooked On The Coach's Kindness

In response to the TDN series 'How I Got Hooked on Horse Racing,' we received the following letter from a former Thoroughbred owner who offers his own anecdotes about Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

I really enjoyed Christina Bossinakis's professional profile in the Thoroughbred Dailey News today. Her history with D. Wayne Lukas hit a cord with me. I am a retired businessman, University of Wisconsin-Madison grad, and long-ago owner of a horse trained by D. Wayne Lukas.

In 1986, I had a horse named Hurdy Gurdy Man that had shown promise when racing in Pennsylvania. He was recovering from a saucer fracture when I decided he might do well under D. Wayne's care. I called his listed phone number and D. Wayne answered the phone quickly.

After a brief sharing UW and cheesehead history, I asked him if he would take Hurdy Gurdy Man as a project. He didn't hesitate in saying yes. Over the next 13 months Hurdy Gurdy Man compiled a record of 5-3-1 in 13 starts.

It was great fun for my family and partners. Jeff Lukas and Kiaran McLaughlin were D. Wayne's primary assistant trainers. We let the Lukas stable make all the decisions. D. Wayne was the number one trainer in the country, but we always felt important to D. Wayne and his staff

Fast forward to 1998. My younger brother was suffering from cancer and we thought he was on the verge of dying. He was a high school math teacher that enjoyed Thoroughbred racing dating to our days driving to Arlington Park from Madison in the '60s. He was never able to enjoy racing as an owner or participant in a big racing event.

So, I asked him if he would join me at Churchill Downs for the Breeders' Cup if I could get us on the backstretch for the event. He said 'yes' and I called the phone number I had on record for D. Wayne. To my surprise, D. Wayne answered on the second ring. I apologized for not offering him a race prospect, but he kindly listened to my request to get my brother and me on the backside for the Breeders' Cup: nothing more. He said he would talk with his wife and she would get back to me. Several days later his wife called me and told me I was on a list that would be honored at the back gate.

Sure enough, early on Breeders' Cup Saturday we were waived through the gate and on to the Lukas barn. Even though it was early, the activity of the day was in overdrive so it was no surprise that D. Wayne was entertaining the press trackside and the barn asked us to stay as his return was imminent.

Soon D. Wayne's cowboy hat was visible within a tsunami of press that stopped well short of the Lukas barn. D. Wayne greeted us warmly as if I knew him well and as if I had recently been in his world. It was over a decade since he had Hurdy Gurdy Man and I was truly a very small owner in his business history.

I was totally impressed and thanked him profusely for get us on the backside. We were prepared to leave when D. Wayne casually asked if we had plans for the day and we told him we were planning on mingling with the masses on the frontside when racing started. He walked into his barn office and grabbed an envelope with my name on it tacked to the cork board. “Here, there are reserved seats for you both including paddock passes for all the races today. Enjoy!” My brother and I were BLOWN away!

We had a fabulous day…a day neither of us will forget. Benjamin Franklin said, “if you want something done, ask a busy person.” Add the words “with class” when done by D. Wayne Lukas! By the way, my brother is alive, with a good attitude, despite now having dialysis from the ravages of cancer and related treatments.

An aside: I met a woman this summer who grew up in Antigo, Wisconsin. I mentioned D. Wayne Lukas, Clyde Rice [trainer and father of Linda Rice] and potatoes! She added that D. Wayne's mother was a “class act who was warm and generous.” How's that for a pedigree?

Regards,
Scott Jamison