More than two hundred attendees gathered at Churchill Downs Aug. 19 to celebrate the life of late horse trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who died June 28 at age 89.
READ: Industry-Shaping Horseman Lukas Dies at Age 89
The ceremony began with a photo montage at various stages of his Hall of Fame career, picturing Lukas atop his pony and interacting with the horses within his stable. Touching moments and reflections from numerous speakers followed.
Though the Tuesday afternoon event was held in Louisville, Ky., where Lukas lived much of the year, many traveled hundreds of miles to attend the ceremony. Attendees included former assistants such as Kiaran McLaughlin, Bobby Barnett, Dallas Stewart, Mike Maker, and Todd Pletcher, plus friends, owners, and fellow trainers—such as the Southern California-based Bob Baffert, a close friend of Lukas for about three decades.
Members of Lukas' family were also on-site, including his wife, Laurie, and grandson Brady Wayne Lukas, plus others who worked for Lukas.
Brady Wayne Lukas, a major in the United States Air Force, drew laughs by saying that it was his grandfather's wish to hold the ceremony at 3:45 a.m.—a reference to the late trainer's early-to-rise ways.
He recalled his interactions with his grandfather as a youth while in California, specifically learning basketball, a sport for which Lukas once coached. Later, as a promising teenage football player, he called his grandfather in Kentucky to discuss where he should go to school, rattling off several options, including the United States Air Force Academy. To Brady's surprise, his grandfather hung up.
Minutes later, Brady received a phone call from a number he didn't recognize. On the other end of the telephone was Super Bowl-winning football coach Bill Parcells, a friend of Lukas' who was calling to advise the young man to attend the Air Force.
Beyond family, Wayne Lukas guided others, including Pletcher, who spoke of appreciation for his mentor. He called him "the most resilient person I ever met," and marveled at his optimism.
"It's a daunting number when you think about how many lives he influenced, how many people worked for him, learned from him, were coached by him, taught by him, influenced by him—just incredible influence on so many people and very grateful to be a small part of that," he told the audience.
The first of several musical tributes preceded a eulogy from veterinarian Dr. Eleanor Green, the first of which was a song crafted and sung by Luke Irwin from a poem "Out of Time" that Lukas authored.
In her eulogy of Lukas, veterinarian Dr. Eleanor Green added that Lukas "wore his celebrity status with humility and grace. Wayne took his success not as a privilege, but as a responsibility."
Two other musical tributes—sung by Shea Leparoux, wife of jockey Julien Leparoux—and bagpipes played by Graeme Smith were other elements of the ceremony.
Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day provided some of the more emotional moments. The former rider, who teamed with Lukas regularly before the jockey's retirement from riding in 2005, described praying with the trainer at various points in Lukas' life, which touched Day, a highly spiritual man. In Lukas' final days, after Laurie requested Day visit, Day baptized Lukas at the trainer's Louisville-area home.
Choking with emotion during some of his remarks, he said of Lukas and Day's conviction in the afterlife, "Wayne, this is not goodbye. It's just until we meet again."
