Darrell Wayne Lukas might not be the first trainer reporters seek out at Churchill Downs this week but no one knows the drill better.
If Todd Pletcher saddles at least two of his four Kentucky Derby hopefuls Saturday, he will break a tie for career Derby starters (48) he holds with Lukas, his mentor. A Hall of Fame trainer, Lukas seeks his fifth Kentucky Derby victory and first since 1999 with Bravazo, an early-season winner at Oaklawn Park.
It has been 30 years since the Lukas-trained Winning Colors led every step and gave the trainer, then 52, his first Derby victory. He virtually owned the Louisville classic in the 1990s, winning back-to-back editions with Thunder Gulch (1995) and Grindstone (1996) and again in '99 with Charismatic.
"You get the first one and take a deep breath and say as a trainer, 'I've arrived,"' Lukas said recently at Churchill Downs. "But that fire doesn't go out. You want to get back and get it on your resume.
"Winning four has not diminished my enthusiasm and interest in it at all."
After two years without a Derby starter, Lukas is back with Bravazo, whose biggest victory came in February's Grade 2 Risen Star at Fair Grounds in New Orleans. Although disappointing in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby in late March, Bravazo became Lukas' sole Triple Crown contender when Grade 1 winner Sporting Chance did not live up to expectations at Oaklawn. Bravazo races in the silks of historic Calumet Farm in Lexington, Ky., which in the 1940s campaigned Triple Crown winners Whirlaway and Citation.
"He's a tough horse, really a tough horse," Lukas said. "He's got to improve, there's no question about it. But if he'll get a piece of it, he's one of those kind you could take through a Triple Crown series and dance every dance."
Bravazo worked five furlongs in company with maiden Berko in 1:01 2-5 Saturday at Churchill Downs, Lukas sending out the Awesome Again colt at 5:30 a.m. local time, two hours before a special training session reserved for Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks contenders.
With exercise rider Danielle Rosier aboard, Bravazo started outside his workmate before darting through on the rail. In an earlier drill, the colt split horses on the far turn, where many Derby horses have made a winning move.
"I do that routinely with every horse, try to teach them, give them different scenarios," Lukas said.
"I thought he worked well. Everybody's going to tell you that. He's had a really good two weeks, though. I think he's got an affinity for this racetrack, more so than he did (training at Oaklawn), honestly. He might have just settled in more here."
Lukas has given the Derby mount to Luis Contreras, who finished 18th aboard Prospective (2012) in his only appearance. Hall of Famer Gary Stevens, a two-time Derby winner for Lukas (Winning Colors and Thunder Gulch), rode Bravazo to victory at Oaklawn, then relinquished the mount in the Risen Star but regained the ride in the Louisiana Derby.
"I've had really good luck with (Contreras), and he's ridden horses very well for me," Lukas said. "He seems to communicate well with me, and the horses he rode (at Oaklawn), some of them ran way better numbers with him. I feel real comfortable with him.
"People will probably question (the decision) when there's some Hall of Fame-type guys wandering here without a mount ... but my answer to that is, 30 years ago I took a complete unknown and put him on Winning Colors, and that kind of worked out."
* My Boy Jack, Oaklawn's Grade 3 Southwest winner in February and last-out Grade 3 Lexington winner at Keeneland, completed his Derby preparations with a five-furlong workout in 1:03 1-5 Saturday.
"The time overall was not important to me. It was the style," said trainer Keith Desormeaux. "A lot of trainers want them to go fast, and there are times for that, but this was mainly an introduction to the track. I wanted him to stretch his legs and his lungs, so time was not important.
"It was style, and he finished very nice. If he can go the last fourth or three-eighths in the Derby in the same manner he did today, then we'll be in good shape."
Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, a three-time Derby winner, rides My Boy Jack for his brother. The same connections finished second in the 2016 Derby with Exaggerator, who subsequently won the Preakness, and 16th last year with the maiden Sonneteer.
"This year, the nerves are not as out there," said Keith Desormeaux. "He's eating well, all the signs are great, and with one week of pampering, our job is done. The rest of the week will be quiet."
* Derby entries will be drawn Wednesday with a full 20-horse field and two also-eligibles expected. Five Oaklawn-raced horses are pointing to the mile-and-quarter classic with Arkansas Derby winner Magnum Moon considered one of the likely favorites and Arkansas Derby third- and fourth-place finishers Solomini and Combatant also competing.
Sports on 04/30/2018