"'D. Wayne' is the complete story of the man who quite simply, changed the game of training throughbred racehorses." --
Chris Lincoln, ESPN"A fascinating look into the history and career of America's most famous horse trainer." --
William Nack, Sports Illurstrated"A fascinating story from start to finish." --
Jim McKay, ABC Sports"Carlo DeVito has turned in a strong effort, relating the story of the enigmatic monarch of...Team Lukas." --
Thoroughbred Times"Lukas is racing's most successful trainer and has changed his sport. DeVito's richly detailed account is sympathetic, but hardly uncritical." --
Stephen J. Ford, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky (4/28/2002)"[A] crisply reported biography of Trainer D. Wayne Lukas." --
Lexington Herald-Leader, Lexington, Kentucky (4/28/2002)
His methods have been ridiculed, his business tactics questioned, and his plans derided. Yet not even the most stiff-necked Southern patrician can deny that D. Wayne Lukas is the most successful horse trainer in history.
In 1999 Lukas became the first trainer to surpass $200 million in earnings. During the course of his career, he has saddled more than a thousand stakes winners. He has trained twenty Eclipse champions (including two that won Horse of the Year awards) and has been the nation's leading money-winning trainer fourteen times, having hit the all-time single-season record of $17.8 million in 1988. He's won thirteen Triple Crown races--including a record-breaking six in a row--counting up four Kentucky Derbies, five Preaknesses, and four Belmonts. He also is the all-time winningest Breeders' Cup trainer, with fifteen victories. This revolutionary genius has also trained an entire generation of hot young trainers that has already begun to leave its mark on the world of horse racing.
In short, if horse racing is the sport of kings, then D. Wayne Lukas is undoubtedly its emperor.
Now, in this first book-length biography of D. Wayne Lukas, sportswriter Carlo DeVito tells the riveting life story of the man known throughout the sports world as the "Vince Lombardi of horse racing." DeVito traces Lukas's career from his days as a basketball coach to his rise in quarter-horse racing, from his emergence as a driving force in thoroughbred racing to his induction in the Horse Racing Hall of Fame. He reveals the controversial strategies and business tactics D. Wayne employed to wrest control of thoroughbred racing from the handful of wealthy families who had held it for two centuries. Using more than five hundred articles and interviews with Lukas, rivals and fans, colleagues and competitors, wives, and friends, author Carlo DeVito paints a fascinating portrait of a man who embodies Americans' most cherished images of themselves--self-made man, innovator, and cowboy.
The first biography of the most successful and notorious horse trainer of all time, D. Wayne is must reading not only for horse-racing aficionados but for everyone who finds inspiration in tales of true grit and determination along the road to the winner's circle of life.
Praise for D. Wayne
"Winning isn't everything, but it's the principal goal in all sports. Wayne Lukas has accomplished it with skill, dedication, attention to detail, panache and controversy more than any horse trainer before him. It's a fascinating story from starting gate to finish line."
--Jim McKay, ABC Sports Emmy-winning journalist and commentator, Olympics and "Wide World of Sports"
"A fascinating look into the history and career of America's most famous horse trainer."
--William Nack, Sports Illustrated
"D. Wayne is the complete story of the man who, quite simply, changed the game of training thoroughbred racehorses. Lukas also raised the bar for those who follow. All of that, and he still gives the best sound bite and quotes in the game!"
--Chris Lincoln, host of ESPN's "Racehorse Digest" and global television presenter for the World Series Racing Championships.
The first biography of the most successful--and controversial--horse trainer of all time
D. Wayne Lukas has trained more winners, won more races, and amassed a greater fortune than any horse trainer in history. His unorthodox methods as well as his stormy personal life have also earned him a celebrity traditionally reserved for movie stars and big-league athletes. Now, in
D. Wayne, journalist Carlo DeVito provides us with an intimate look into the life, times, and complex personality of one of the most colorful entrepreneurial mavericks of all time.
