By Bill Finley
Trainer Wayne Lukas is in his eighties, hasn't had a winner of the GI Kentucky Derby since 1999, hasn't had a horse finish in the money since 2002 and hasn't had a starter since 2015. Despite a Hall of Fame career, he would seem an unlikely candidate to win this year's Derby, but there's one thing about Lukas: you can never count him out.
Look who's back on the Kentucky Derby trail. Lukas won Saturday's GII Risen Star Stakes at the Fair Grounds with Bravazo (Awesome Again). Ridden by Miguel Mena, he won by a nose at odds of 21-1. Monday, Lukas will send out GI Hopeful S. winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Sporting Chance (Tiznow) in the GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn Park.
“Now that it looks like we might have a couple for the Derby, you can't believe the fan base and the people coming out of the woodwork,” Lukas said. “Yesterday, the texts were coming in and the phone was ringing off the wall. People we hadn't heard from in a long time. It's kind of exciting for me. I haven't won once since 1999. Not that we're going to win it, but the fact that we are in the picture is a really stimulating thing for me at this point in my career.”
Art Sherman, who won the 2014 Kentucky Derby with California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) at age 77, holds the record for oldest trainer to have won the Derby.
Bravazo is typical of the type of horses Lukas now so often wins major races with. He was a horse few believed in coming into the Risen Star, a race that was headlined by Instilled Regard (Arch) and Noble Indy (Take Charge Indy). Every time Lukas wins a big race, the horse seems to pay in the double digits.
“I guess when you get to be 82, they overlook you,” he said.
Bravazo was an erratic 2-year-old who was good enough to run second in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland last year and erratic enough to finish tenth, beaten 14 lengths, in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. Lukas said he had made a mistake last year when trying to convert Bravazo into a one-run horse and the reason he has been better this year is because he has told the riders to let the horse get into the running earlier on.
The son of Awesome Again debuted as a 3-year-old with a narrow allowance win at Oaklawn Jan. 13 and came back to win the Risen Star over 41-1 shot Snapper Sinclair (City Zip).
“I think he is a solid, good horse and he'll keep everybody honest,” Lukas said. “They'll be hyping different ones, which they usually do with the horses in Florida, New York and California. But I think he's pretty solid and I think I can get him to move forward off this. He'll keep the deal honest.
“The other thing is he is getting more mature. He was a little green yesterday in the stretch when he went to riding him hard. A lot of people don't realize that, when you go to ride these babies like that and really get after them like they do with an older horse, they drift and duck and dive and do things. They're not used to that. He should move forward after that.”
Bravazo has 54 Derby points, which assures him a spot in the field if he stays healthy. Lukas said the GII Louisiana Derby at the Fair Grounds would be next.
Lukas last won a Triple Crown race with Oxbow in 2013 and there are plenty of similarities between that horse and Bravazo. Both are owned by Calumet Farm and both are by Awesome Again. Both are also out of Cee's Tizzy mares.
“He's got Oxbow's look when it comes to conformation,” Lukas said. “I don't know, it might be stretching things a little bit, but, sure, there is a similarity there.”
Prior to Bravazo's emergence, Sporting Chance looked like Lukas's best hope for getting back into the Kentucky Derby picture. A $575,000 Keeneland September purchase, he won the Sept. 4 Hopeful by a neck but has not been heard from since. Topped by the Bob Baffert trained Mourinho (Super Saver), the Southwest is far from an easy spot to come back in.
“I think I've got him as good as I can make him on Feb. 19,” Lukas said. “The problem is every horse in the race but him has had two outs this year and that third out is usually when you can figure out where you're at a little bit. He is coming off a six-month layoff. Talent-wise, I think he's there, but in mid-February I don't want his best race. But I do need a good one. If the talent and ability carries him, so be it. He's a very talented colt and a very professional horse. A used care salesman could train this one.”
Perhaps Sporting Chance would be better off being trained by an old basketball coach.
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