We've debated about Lukas many times on this board. The fans have a totally different perception of Lukas than anyone in the business. The fan see him smiling on television and they know he won all these big races. That's about all they know. They don't know that he's broken down so many horses that many of the insurance companies will not insure his horses.
I don't know one person in the business that thinks Lukas is a good trainer. He had about a 4 year head-start on everyone in terms of pharmocology back in the 1980s. He would put his horses on steroids when they were yearlings. His 2 year olds were like 3 year olds in terms of physical maturity. That's why Lukas was so dominant in the 2 year old races. Lukas always had great assistants. He was a great salesman. He knew how to talk to people and not only that he was having huge success. Before you knew it, he was getting $70 million worth of horses every year while the other top trainers were lucky to get $10 million. Many good trainers were lucky to get $3 million worth of horses. Anyway, before you knew it all the other trainers were doing the same thing as Lukas in terms of steroids and all the other stuff. He still had a huge advantage because he had such good owners. At that point he was still outspending most trainers by 30x. Anyway, everything eventually caught up with him. He still gets great horses but obviously not as good as he used to. He still gets better horses than 99% of the guys out there, yet his win percentage is usually around 10%. I think the guy is a horrible trainer. I know that sounds crazy to people who aren't in the business. They can't belive that a guy who had that much success is not a good trainer. You don't need to take my word for it. Ask anyone in the business what the lowdown is on Lukas. They'll all tell you the same thing. If you even mention his names, most guys will just roll their eyes.
To this day everyone just shakes their heads in the morning when they see his horses train. His horses are so sore that it is unbelievable.
Last edited by Rupert Pupkin : 09-19-2006 at 12:00 AM.
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