Haskin on the TC

[tucker6]

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/50933/haskins-belmont-report-leave-crown-alone

Haskin really gives D. Wayne the business in this article. Can't say I blame him. If Lucas can't train horses to get the distance, then maybe HE should step down in class as a trainer.

[Bettowin]

DW is getting senile.

[PaceAdvantage]

I thought years ago Wayne was one of the guys who didn't want to fiddle with the TC when this issue was brought up...I guess either he's had a change of heart, or my memory is faulty...

[rastajenk]

I'd guess the latter. My recollection is that he was one of the first of those guys who wanted to stretch it out to a month or so between increasingly longer races. Or I could be wrong, too. :cool:

[PaceAdvantage]

You're probably right...after 10 years of moderating this board and 20 years following this game, it's all become one giant blur....:lol:

[Imriledup]

Lukas is one of the most overrated trainers in the history of the game.

All his success is not due to great horsemanship, but in his political savvy, his ability to sell snow to the eskimos and his ability to convince 60 year old rich businessmen why they should take his advice and pluck down 4 million dollars for an incorrect son of Joe Blow.

Lukas had some great assistants and when he won, it was because of them. When they left him, he fell off the map.

Most all of Lukases first time starters break slow and then get blinkers as a 2nd time starter. They have trouble switching leads, they are green and whatnut. You don't see that from Asmussen or Baffert firsters, those horses are straight as strings, they come out of the gate when it opens, they don't lug in or drift out, they fight and they switch leads on cue...lukas horse don't do that.

Lukas had Charismatic in a claiming race and got very lucky no one plucked him out of there.

Lukas is one of the few trainers who will enter any horse in any 'big race' just to enter. He's been criticized for running horses who were not fit to run.

His entering is terrible too, he overclassifes way too much, he doesn't put horses where they can win.

His talent is he wears nice suits, dark sunglasses (so you can't see his eyes) and has a great motivational gift.

If anyone can prove to me he's a very good horseman i will really listen, but from where i sit, its all smoke, mirrors and fluff.

[PaceAdvantage]

Lukas had some great assistants and when he won, it was because of them. When they left him, he fell off the map.Here's where your logic goes up in smoke. Or are you implying all of his assistants WALKED INTO HIS BARN great?

Yeah, it was all luck, smoke, and mirrors.

[kenwoodallpromos]

Equibase- In the top 100 wins, no Lukas; in the top 100 starts, Lukas #46.
Wasn't Pletcher a DWL ass.? Where is his TC wins since leaving Lukas barns?

[rastajenk]

I think it's a little rough to call him a DWL ass. :)

[lamboguy]

how come d.wayne wear's long sleeve shirts n 90 degree temperature's in the summertime at saratoga when he used to be there all the time?

[ezrabrooks]

how come d.wayne wear's long sleeve shirts n 90 degree temperature's in the summertime at saratoga when he used to be there all the time?

I am gonna have to work of this one for a while. I know there is meaning intended.

Ez

[DanG]

Lukas is one of the most overrated trainers in the history of the game.

All his success is not due to great horsemanship

His talent is he wears nice suits, dark sunglasses (so you can't see his eyes) and has a great motivational gift.

If anyone can prove to me he's a very good horseman i will really listen, but from where i sit, its all smoke, mirrors and fluff.
Well; proof is not possible, but I can tell you what I witnessed and was told to me by my brother who saw him far more then I did.

I have MANY issues with Lukas and the shape he has sent many broodmares to KY in is despicable, but as far as this issue goes...

Lukas was a few barns down from where my brother worked for Proctor’s and I can tell you first hand he is a GREAT horseman. He was no stable manager who didn’t know which end to feed, he could (and still can I imagine) handle the toughest SOB’s on the backside. More then once I saw a rogue flip out on his help and he would take over and he just had an amazing presence with the bad actors.

It’s no secret on the backstretch who the real horsemen are and with all his flaws; he has a genuine gift around thoroughbreds.

BTW: as a side note; it was generally accepted that 99% of the Kentucky horsemen did not care for him and that’s putting it mildly. Proctor was a hard boot of the first degree, but he wasn’t alone in this opinion. When Willard had a real top 2yo named ‘Swear (who died not long after) Lukas would walk by his barn everyday so he could look at this freak. Each day Proctor would stare a hole in this man and then walk away saying some pretty colorful things about him.

One more thing that I realize is well known; but the Lukas barns were immaculate. Way beyond that famous herringbone raking pattern he used there was never ANYTHING out of place and his attention to detail was remarkable.

[ManeMediaMogul]

Lukas is one of the most overrated trainers in the history of the game.

All his success is not due to great horsemanship, but in his political savvy, his ability to sell snow to the eskimos and his ability to convince 60 year old rich businessmen why they should take his advice and pluck down 4 million dollars for an incorrect son of Joe Blow.

Lukas had some great assistants and when he won, it was because of them. When they left him, he fell off the map.

Most all of Lukases first time starters break slow and then get blinkers as a 2nd time starter. They have trouble switching leads, they are green and whatnut. You don't see that from Asmussen or Baffert firsters, those horses are straight as strings, they come out of the gate when it opens, they don't lug in or drift out, they fight and they switch leads on cue...lukas horse don't do that.

Lukas had Charismatic in a claiming race and got very lucky no one plucked him out of there.

Lukas is one of the few trainers who will enter any horse in any 'big race' just to enter. He's been criticized for running horses who were not fit to run.

His entering is terrible too, he overclassifes way too much, he doesn't put horses where they can win.

His talent is he wears nice suits, dark sunglasses (so you can't see his eyes) and has a great motivational gift.

If anyone can prove to me he's a very good horseman i will really listen, but from where i sit, its all smoke, mirrors and fluff.

If you wanted to win the Triple Crown and had a choice of only two trainers, would you pick Woolley or Lukas?

Don't let the fact that Lukas has won all those Triple Crown races and his "greatest assistant," Todd Pletcher, hasn't won any, fool you now.