Lukas Challenges Everyone “To Make a Difference” Every Day
D. Wayne Lukas, the most transformative trainer in at least horse racing’s modern era, delivered Wednesday’s keynote speech at the National HBPA Conference at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs, Ark.
Video: watch D. Wayne Lukas’ keynote address and Nancy Holthus’ introduction. Courtesy Oaklawn Park
The 86-year-old Lukas challenged everyone in horse racing to do his or her part to be an ambassador for the sport. The four-time Kentucky Derby winner and all-time Breeders’ Cup leader mesmerized the audience for 35 minutes with humor, jokes and mostly an impassioned pitch for every racing participant to do their part to be a cheerleader for the sport.
Lukas started off by saying that when a bettor “steps up to the window, choosing your horse and making a bet, he instantly becomes your financial partner for 15 minutes. He is invested in you.”
He went on to say, “We all have one purpose, and that is to promote the sport… We’ve got to make a difference. We’ve got to take every opportunity to introduce racing (to other people). Do you tell them how great it is? Do you sit down in an airplane and say, ‘Have you ever been to the Derby?’ Everyone of us should be recruiting new people every day, whether they are 6 years old or 96. We’ve got to reach out and tell them about what we’ve got going. We’ve got something really good going.”
For years, Lukas has made it habit after a victory to find a little kid to invite into the winner’s circle.
“You cannot believe the response, how excited those kids get,” he said. “They’re shaking, trembling, they are that excited. The kicker is I’ve gotten letter after letter after letter saying ‘I’m 25 years old and just graduated from the University of Arkansas, going to law school, and I have the picture from when you took me to the winner’s circle when I was 8 years old.’
“Why isn’t every one doing that? It’s so easy. Pictures aren’t that expensive. If I win the Kentucky Derby this year, you can look up and there will be a small kid I’ve never seen before standing right next to me. Everyone of us can do that.”
Lukas concluded to a standing ovation after saying, “Each one of us has to try to make a difference. Will you make a difference today? Will you recruit someone today?” He said each night he looks in the mirror and asks himself, “I (might have) won a race, but did I make a difference today? Make a difference this week, people.”
Lukas was introduced by Oaklawn Park paddock analyst Nancy Holthus, who said how choked up she got when Lukas won last Saturday’s Grade 3 Honeybee Stakes with the impressive filly Secret Oath, a leading contender for the Kentucky Oaks. That’s if Lukas doesn’t run her in the Kentucky Derby, which he won for the first time in 1988 with the filly Winning Colors.
