I was a new fan to the game in 1989, just 18 years old, and my brother and I ran into Lukas at Santa Anita one weekday. He took the time to talk to us for about 30 minutes in the paddock. He had a horse Houston that was pointing to the Derby. He also had the 2yo filly champion Open Mind, who I like better. I had the audacity to tell Lukas that Open Mind was his better shot. He laughed and said maybe so but they had paid $2.9 million for Houston and he was the Derby horse. I'll never forget the patience he showed to a young idiot and how he took time out of his day to talk to a couple of kids. He has been my favorite person in racing ever since.
Last year, while working on the East Coast, I went to Parx for the Penn Derby and got a chance to run into him after he left the winner's circle after Seize the Grey's win. He couldn't stop and talk but I was able to say a few words as he walked. I told him that my favorite quote of all time is "the difficult I can do right away, the impossible might take me a little bit longer." He stopped and looked and smiled and said "you're quoting me". I got a few pics of him that day and just seeing the reverence and respect he got from the crowd that day, it was special to see.
RIP to the greatest.
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The real horses of the year (1986-2020)
Manila, Java Gold, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Go for Wand, In Excess, Paseana, Kotashaan, Holy Bull, Cigar, Alphabet Soup, Formal Gold, Skip Away, Artax, Tiznow, Point Given, Azeri, Candy Ride, Smarty Jones, Ghostzapper, Invasor, Curlin, Zenyatta, Zenyatta, Goldikova, Havre de Grace, Wise Dan, Wise Dan, California Chrome, American Pharoah, Arrogate, Gun Runner, Accelerate, Maximum Security, Gamine
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