http://paulmoranattheraces.blogspot.com/
See the March 31 post about Sellers\' autobiography. It also talks about Sellers using buzzers at Evangeline Downs.
EMPTY BARRELS ALWAYS MAKE THE MOST NOISE..........
There was a run there when Lukas got a lot of good horses. Its all over now, but he had another edge besides good horseflesh. Whatever he used is passe compared to today\'s \"tactics\".
I think everyone knows Lukas ran his stock hard and didn\'t worry about the future. The future always involved the next crop. What follows is the text of what Shane Sellers had to say:
" ... At that point, I was hardly concerned about not winning the race. All I knew was that Cape Town was done running. I knew it, he knew it and I'm certain that Wayne knew it. But when the race was over, Wayne had the gall to dog me out in front of all the fans and the jockeys. He blamed the loss on me and started telling everyone – including the press – that I rode his horse badly and cost Cape Town the race. The press butchered me for that. I looked like the asshole because the words came out of the mighty Mr. Lukas' mouth
"Feeling absolutely furious, the next morning I walked into Wayne's tack room and confronted him about what had happened. I said, 'Why can't you come back to me and take me into this office and tell me what you gotta say? Why do you gotta go and hurt me in the press when you know it's the total opposite, Wayne? You knew that that horse was lame before the Florida Derby and you run him in the Bluegrass. Then he runs bad and you blame me.'
"Getting angrier by the second, I continued, 'What a scapegoat. You just bounced it off on me and it's wrong. Take your horses. I don't need to ride for you, man. You understand? I don't. I'm gonna win races without you cause you haven't put me on too many winners, man. How many winners have you put me on?'
"In a final fit of anger, I said, 'I've made it this far to be without you and to be honest with you, I don't respect you as a person or a horseman. The way you treated this horse, they should take away your license. He didn't belong in the Bluegrass, much less the Derby. You knew it before the Florida Derby and that's why you told me he was gonna get out and not to tell the vet.' Then I walked out of his office and never walked back."
More on Lukas:
"And that's the problem with men like Wayne Lukas. The public views him as a hero, but we jockeys know better. Sure, we wanted to get on his horses because he bought the best bred horses in the country. Since the best-bred horses usually make the best racehorses, it's obvious that he should have won as many races as he did. But instead of treating his horses right and letting them have lengthy careers, history shows that Wayne's horses were lucky if they made it past three-year-olds. He pushed them until they broke down.
"Everyone in the jocks' room knew that, but they sure wouldn't say it – not to Wayne's face anyway. In jockey politics, everyone treated Wayne like he was god and then walked back into the jocks' room talking about what a jerk he was. We knew how his horses felt because that was our job. We could feel the struggle in their knees and the jolts in their backs. We could see their eyes widen when we got on them, as if they were saying, 'Why are you doing this to me?' We could see all of it, but there was nobody there to listen to our side of the story.
"So we sat around and watched as the best bred horses in the country broke down, one after another. Wayne kept winning races, but what happened to the horses after the race? That man became an all-time legend, but he lacked the compassion to be great in the long term."
I tend to agree with Shane\'s conclusion
Wow, that was harsh.
IMHO, Lukas ran a lot of horses after it was obvious to everyone they were \"done\".
Do you know by chance if lukas is somehow related to harry telford?
Lukas was a bad horseman, but a great politician. If an eskimo needed some extra snow, he\'d know where to go and get it.
Many, if not all, of Lukas well bred first time starters, were great bet-againsts at short prices. Many of his runners would not run in a straight line, they would all need blinkers in their 2nd start, they wouldn\'t come out of the gate with the rest of the pack either. You could tell he was just spending millions and throwing them out there and letting the breeding take him to the winners circle, which happened enough of the time to keep the coach in fancy suits for many years.
I remember watching a head on of a 4 million dollar Lukas baby and watching how structurally incorrect that runner looked, with his legs flapping all over the place got me to thinking that Lukas would pay 4 million for a badly built horse with fashionable breeding must have had the breeders jumping for joy that their well bred horse, who stood crooked, brought 4 million.
What\'s the saying about never trusting a man who wears sunglasses indoors?
I have a good friend who is an asst trainer and has worked for some really top stables in his life. I asked him why he thought certain trainers wear dark sunglasses all the time and he said, \"so you can\'t see their lyin eyes\".
These criticisms have little merit. Some trainers have different styles because their clients have different agendas. Some trainers have different styles because they have different roots.
All one needs to do is gaze across the Sire Profiles this weekend and assuredly you will see maybe a dozen Lukas trained sires and another 5-6 Lukas trained assistants now on their own.
Start with Proud Citizen in the Ashland and begin working your way. The comment that Lukas was not built for the long haul starts getting flushed down the you-know-what with everything else right here.
Now that Shane Sellers and Jose Conseco are book writers we can still separate the two.
At least Conseco could hit............
In 1999 Lukas got a claiming cripple, Charismatic, to the Derby winners circle and Frankel ran a lame Empire Maker in the derby. Trainers take shots all the time in big spots with horses that are not 100%, whats new.Don\'t believe the nonsense that many of these trainers spew about protecting the precious animal. Many horses are NOT stopped on when a trainer thinks they can work thru an infirmary to get to say, the derby or breeders cup race.
Sellers has been a malcontent for years. Lukas was no angel but had a great gift of gab. He was a prolific big race winner and spawned many successful understudies to the big time.Lots of guys today get well bred and expensive stock with little to no success compared to Lukas.Triple Crown was more exciting when the Lukas, Baffy crowd were in there.
Mike
Miff, I agree with your assessment on Lukas. Why have Lukas and Baffert disappeared from the big time.
Dr,
Thats the easiest question in racing to answer, they don\'t have fast horses anymore.
Mike
SC,
Broke down and never running again doesn\'t mean they couldn\'t go on to stand
and deliver the goods.lukas has nothing to do with those horses being good
sires.The horses own blood dictates that.All lukas had to do was keep them
above ground.What a mighty accomplishment by such a great horsemen.
For Imallin:In March 1983, Salzman traveled from Maryland to saddle Noble Home for a second-place finish in the Jim Beam Stakes at Turfway Park. Turns out, the winner of the race, Marfa, should not have been eligible to run because he had lower earnings than other horses who were excluded from the oversubscribed field. But much to Salzman\'s everlasting amazement and dismay, the Kentucky Racing Commission declined to disqualify Marfa even after a lengthy series of legal actions.
Imallin,
Loved your point about being a politician.The story is from the DRF in the
article regarding Bsharpsonata.Remember who trained Marfa? Just another dirty
dealing and to no one\'s surprise who\'s involved.
My opinion is that Lukas and Baffert never went in for the techniques that others are employing to get the super figures. The blood related techniques.
drbillym Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Miff, I agree with your assessment on Lukas. Why
> have Lukas and Baffert disappeared from the big
> time.
Well it\'s Derby time and with Shane\'s new book out (which discusses the use of buzzers and Lukas), I wonder if this little clip is just a coincidence, hmmmmm?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIAKRCP-C1o&feature=related
MO
Day was just accepting a contribution to his church..............