LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Hall of Fame horse racing trainer D. Wayne Lukas has been hospitalized and will not return to training, his family and Churchill Downs announced Sunday.
Lukas’ family said the 89-year-old has battled a severe MRSA blood infection that has caused significant damage to his heart and digestive system and worsened preexisting chronic conditions. The family said Lukas declined an aggressive treatment plan that doctors proposed involving multiple surgeries over the coming months and 24/7 assistance, instead deciding to return home.
His horses have been transferred to assistant trainer Sebastian “Bas" Nicholl, who has been part of Lukas' team since 2002.
“Wayne built a legacy that will never be matched,” Nicholl said. “Every decision I make, every horse I saddle, I’ll hear his voice in the back of my mind. This isn’t about filling his shoes — no one can. It’s about honoring everything that he’s built.”
Lukas is one of the most accomplished people in the history of the sport. His 15 Triple Crown victories are second only to good friend Bob Baffert, and Lukas has a record-tying 20 in the Breeders Cup.
He won the Kentucky Derby four times since 1988. His most recent victory in the Triple Crown came last year with Seize the Grey in the Preakness, his seventh — one short of Baffert's record.
“Wayne is one of the greatest competitors and most important figures in Thoroughbred racing history,” Churchill Downs president Mike Anderson said. “He transcended the sport of horse racing and took the industry to new levels. The lasting impact of his character and wisdom, from his acute horsemanship to his unmatched attention to detail, will be truly missed. The enormity of this news is immense, and our prayers are with his family and friends around the world during this difficult time.”
Lukas is affectionately known around the barns and the racetrack as “Coach” because he coached high school basketball before his professional career with horses began. Even with only months to go before his 90th birthday, he would get up on his pony in the early morning hours and go out to the track himself, rather than letting his assistants do the day-to-day work.
Born Darnell Wayne Lukas on Sept. 2, 1935, in Wisconsin as the second of three children, he rose to prominence in the sport with quarter horses in races that are effectively sprints. He moved into thoroughbreds in the late 1970s and won his first Preakness with Codex in 1980.
Lukas has 4,967 documented victories in thoroughbred racing, with his horses earning more than $310 million from over 30,600 starts.
AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
FILE - Trainer D. Wayne Lukas rides atop a horse during morning workouts ahead of the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes, May 13, 2025, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)
FILE - Trainer D. Wayne Lukas watches a workout at Churchill Downs May 1, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
FILE - Trainer D. Wayne Lukas talks to media after arriving at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, with Preakness Stakes entrant American Promise, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)
The New York Giants hired John Harbaugh as coach on Saturday, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the move had not been announced. The sides began working on a contract Wednesday night when it became clear that Harbaugh was the right fit.
Harbaugh joins the Giants 11 days after he was fired by the Baltimore Ravens, who made the playoffs 12 times with him in charge and won the Super Bowl in the 2012 season. They fell short of the postseason this year because of a missed kick at the buzzer in Week 18, leading ownership to make an change and put Harbaugh on the market.
General manager Joe Schoen and the Giants pounced, bringing on a proven winner with significant NFL head-coaching experience. Harbaugh was flown in on co-owner Steve Tisch’s private plane earlier this week, spent several hours at the team facility in East Rutherford, New Jersey, spoke with young quarterback Jaxson Dart and got wined and dined at nearby Elia Mediterranean Restaurant.
With the courting process complete, Harbaugh is now tasked with turning around the beleaguered franchise that has made just two playoff appearances over the past 12 years and not made it past the divisional round. Todd Monken could follow him from Baltimore to be offensive coordinator, unless he takes a head-coaching gig in Cleveland or elsewhere.
Harbaugh got the job over the likes of Kevin Stefanski, Mike McCarthy, Raheem Morris and Antonio Pierce, leapfrogging some of expected front-runners who got shuffled back as soon as the 63-year-old became available. The chance to work for stable ownership and Dart made New York an attractive landing spot over other places such as Tennessee, Atlanta and Miami.
The Giants have talented pieces in place on either side of the ball, including running back Cam Skattebo, receiver Malik Nabers and left tackle Andrew Thomas on offense, plus pass rushers Brian Burns and Abdul Carter and nose tackle Dexter Lawrence on defense. They have the fifth pick in the draft to add to that stockpile.
Changing the culture of losing that has pervaded the Meadowlands for the better part of the last decade is now on Harbaugh’s shoulders. Counting playoff games, the seven coaches who followed 2007 and ’11 Super Bowl champion Tom Coughlin have gone 45-105-1, a winning percentage of .300.
Harbaugh is 193-124 in 317 games in the league, a .609 winning percentage, since taking over the Ravens in 2008. He spent the previous 10 seasons as an assistant with Philadelphia, mostly as special teams coordinator and then defensive backs coach.
Schoen, after finding out from Tisch and co-owner John Mara that he was returning for a fifth year as GM, said the search would not be limited to just offensive- or defensive-minded options. While Harbaugh comes from a special teams background, he provides the kind of all-around coaching Schoen was believed to be looking for, along with a championship pedigree and a reputation that should garner him immediate respect within the locker room.
This is Schoen’s second hire after bringing Brian Daboll with him from Buffalo, where both were assistants with the Bills, in January 2022. Ownership fired Daboll on Nov. 10 after the Giants lost eight of the first 10 games in his fourth season as coach.
Mike Kafka coached out the string as the interim replacement after being promoted from offensive coordinator, and the team lost five in a row before winning its final two games to finish with a 4-13 record. Kafka interviewed but was never a serious candidate for the full-time job.
Almost no one was compared with Harbaugh, giving the Giants an off-field win that might be their biggest of any kind in several years.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
FILE - Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh looks on from the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams, File)
FILE -Baltimore Ravens owner Stephen J. Bisciotti, right, holds up the Vince Lombardi Trophy as he and head coach John Harbaugh celebrate the team's 34-31win against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
FILE - Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh speaks during a press conference after an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh speaks during a news conference after an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)
