Lukas’ Luck Holds Despite Horse’s Illness

It wasn’t until D. Wayne Lukas began to push his way through the crowd to the winner’s circle that it hit him.

He had just become the first trainer to win five consecutive Triple Crown races, and he was the only man to win a Triple Crown with different horses.

“It was an emotional thing for me,” Lukas said. “It surprised me because it caught me a little bit. I was glad to get the last 24 hours behind me.

“It just kind of hit me when I was going down the stairs: ‘Holy mackerel, we pulled it off anyway.”’

The 59-year-old Lukas won his fifth in a row with Thunder Gulch in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. He won the Kentucky Derby on May 6 with the same horse, then captured the Preakness three weeks ago with Timber Country, last year’s 2-year-old champion.

Timber Country would have gone off an odds-on favorite at the Belmont, but on Friday he came down with a fever of 104, four degrees higher than normal. Timber Country was scratched, leaving the Lukas camp’s hopes riding on the gritty little Thunder Gulch.

“We felt we could win when we had two, and then it was all on this little horse’s shoulders,” Lukas said.”We want to play in the main arena. We’ve said all along that the titles and things like that are a way of keeping score. We’re a very motivated group, and we deal with very highly motivated people.”

Lukas must wait until the first Saturday in May next year in Kentucky before he can go for six in a row. He’s thought about it.

“If we can get five, why not six?” he asked. “We had a very good draft, and we’ve got a very good set of horses.”