Lukas saddles long shot

BALTIMORE – He didn’t have a horse in the Kentucky Derby and will be part of the Preakness for only the second time since 2003.

Where ya been, D. Wayne Lukas?

“I wasn’t gone that long,” said the Hall of Fame trainer, who will saddle long shot Flying First Class in Saturday’s race. “I’m happy to be back.”

Lukas has 13 Triple Crown victories – tied for the top spot in racing history – but hasn’t visited the winner’s circle since Commendable captured the 2000 Belmont Stakes.

Part of the problem is that his pipeline to standout horses was frayed by the deaths of William T. Young, the managing owner of Overbrook Farm, and independent owner Bob Lewis.

“We had the passing of some very key people and it’s hurt our program a little bit,” Lukas said. “But we’re building back up. We’ve got some very strong people trying to get in. As young as I am, I can’t see why we can’t win a few more.”

The 71-year-old Lukas has been training horses longer than some of his peers have been on this earth. If Flying First Class was saddled by someone else Saturday, the favorites in the nine-horse race might not consider him to be a threat.

But with Lukas in charge, anything can happen.

“Wayne has always been my idol. He’s my hero, and he knows it. I’ve patterned a lot of things after him,” said trainer Larry Jones, who is bringing Kentucky Derby runner-up Hard Spun to the Preakness. “Never rule him out.”

Lukas has had 31 horses make Preakness starts, winning five times. He faces a challenge in getting No. 6 with Flying First Class, a speed horse that won the Derby Trial on April 28 but hasn’t competed in a Grade I race. Before capturing the Derby Trial, Flying First Class withered to a sixth-place finish in the Arkansas Derby and faded to eighth in the Rebel at Oaklawn Park. That explains his stature as a 20-1 underdog in the Preakness.

Lukas intends to instruct jockey Mark Guidry to bolt to the lead and try to hang on.