D. Wayne Lukas will attempt to become the winningest trainer in Triple Crown history Saturday at the Preakness Stakes. As Jennie Rees of USA Today wrote, the 77-year-old Hall of Famer has three horses in Saturday’s Pimlico field, looking for a 14th win at one of horse racing’s three biggest events.
Preakness 2013: D. Wayne Lukas looks for Triple Crown record
D. Wayne Lukas is tied for the most Triple Crown wins of any trainer in history, but with three horses in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes field he’ll try to lay sole claim to the record.
Jamie Squire
Lukas has won five times at the Preakness, the second-most in the history of the race -- he trails only R.W. Walden, who won seven times. Although none of his horses in the field this year are considered favorites, he’ll still have three entrants, more than any other trainer in the field. Will Take Charge has 10-1 odds after finishing sixth at the Kentucky Derby, while Oxbow isn’t far behind at 12-1 after finishing eighth. Titletown Five is a bit of a longshot with 20-1 odds.
Although Lukas has had great success at the track, it hasn’t been recent. His first win at Pimlico came in 1980 and he hasn’t won the Preakness since 1999 when Kentucky Derby winner Charasmatic moved on to the Belmont Stakes with a shot at the Triple Crown.
Another accolade would be nice, but Lukas already has plenty of them. He’s a member of both the United States’ Racing Hall of Fame and the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame. He’s a four-time trainer of the year, taking the most wins as a trainer four times and the most earnings as a trainer 15 times. Although he’s never won the Triple Crown with a horse, he has swept the Triple Crown between two of his horses, the only trainer ever to do so.
The record for most Triple Crown wins is currently held by “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons, who had two horses win the Triple Crown, with his final win in a Triple Crown race coming at Pimlico in 1957.
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