Lukas down to 40 horses

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by Danzig188

i think you pretty much summed up why he was able to be such a success--he put together a team effort and was able to train on a much grander scale than many other trainers. and it's what pletcher does now--obviously pletcher doesn't personally train all those horses, and neither did lukas in his heyday. baffert is another who is helped a WHOLE lot by his assistant trainers.
and it also explains why lukas is no longer such a force, he taught his students well and now they are following his lead--and he probably no longer has the drive to do what he did then. i can't imagine being the head of an operation like what he put together.

In a lot of ways, he was like a CEO and he obviously did an excellent job in running his company. But I think his strength was as a CEO rather than as a trainer. By the way, his son was an excellent trainer. Jeff was a very good horseman and a very bright guy. It's very tough to replace someone like that. When you lose someone like that, it really hurts your operation. A lot of these guys get lazy. D Wayne is not one of those guys.

I think that losing good assistants really hurts. I think it really hurt Ron McAnally to lose both Eduardo Inda and Lewis Cenicola.

I disagree with your contention that Lukas is no longer driven. He is incredibly competitive and I'm sure he is extremely frustrated right now. He's a workaholic. He's there every day. He works harder than some trainers in their 20s and 30s. There is a young trainer out here who shall remain nameless, that shows up to the track in the mornings about twice a week. A lot of these guys get lazy but D Wayne is not one of those guys.