Like few trainers in the history of horse racing, D. Wayne Lukas acted and spoke like a man with a monkey on his back.
There he was last week, the most successful trainer in racing history, the winner of more than $70 million and 300 stakes in less than a decade, the reigning three-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer. But despite the trophies and riches, something important was missing. He never acknowledged it, but he knew he never would be fully accepted as a giant in his profession without the victory that trainers covet more than any other - the Kentucky Derby.Rival trainer Woody Stephens earned the first of his two Derby trophies 14 years ago. Jack Van Berg got his last year. LeRoy Jolley picked up his first of two in 1975 and Laz Barrera did the same the following year.
Lukas' two Preakness victories did not lessen the frustration that had been building over his poor Derby record.
All that changed Saturday, when Winning Colors led wire to wire to post the victory for Lukas.