Lukas might not have anything left to prove, but he still has plenty of opinions he's willing to share. He gave his best pitch for reforming the Triple Crown this week, pushing for more time between races and a field of horses that doesn't change so fans can feel more connected to the thoroughbreds. Lukas said he can remember one year when 23 horses tried to get into the Derby and only two decided to race in the Preakness.
"If I showed that to the jury, I'd win every time," Lukas said. "If you had more time, you could bear down in the spring for the Derby, then regroup in time for the Preakness. I think at some point, maybe not in my lifetime, we're going to get to that. I think they'll be enough pressure from outside of our little arena to get us there."
Even if Lukas isn't competitive, he'll likely have his fingerprints all over the outcome of this race in the form of Kiaran McLaughlin, his former protege. McLaughlin, trainer of Charitable Man - who is a serious contender - worked for Lukas as part of his assistant trainer program before finding success on his own. And McLaughlin seems to have inherited a bit of Lukas' playful swagger.
"I've been coming across as cocky, but I'm not cocky at all," McLaughlin said. "I'm just saying he's been doing great, he's 2-for-2 over the track, and he's 3-for-3 on dirt. Do I need to keep going?"
No one, though, can match Lukas' playful smart-aleck style. Consider this: Lukas likes to point out that Luv Gov, his Belmont long shot, was named by his owners as a tribute to former New York governor Eliot Spitzer, who resigned after his name surfaced in connection with an investigation into a prostitution ring.
"Because of our fondness for the former governor, we named one horse Luv Gov and another one The Ninth Client," Lukas said. "We didn't want to let that story just die on the vine. This will keep it alive, and I'm sure we'll have a lot of good comments from the peanut gallery on Saturday."
Belmont Stakes
The field
Post, Horse Jockey Odds
1. Chocolate Candy Gomez 10-1
2. Dunkirk Velazquez 4-1
3. Mr. Hot Stuff Prado 15-1
4. Summer Bird Desormeaux 12-1
5. Luv Gov Mena 20-1
6. Charitable Man Garcia 3-1
7. Mine That Bird Borel 2-1
8. Flying Private Leparoux 12-1
9. Miner's Escape Lezcano 15-1
10. Brave Victory Maragh 15-1
Trainers (by post position): 1, Jerry Hollendorfer. 2, Todd Pletcher. 3, Eoin Harty. 4, Tim Ice. 5, D. Wayne Lukas. 6, Kiaran McLaughlin. 7, Chip Woolley. 8, D. Wayne Lukas. 9, Nick Zito. 10, Nick Zito.
Owners (by post position): 1, The Craig Family Trust. 2, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor and Derrick Smith. 3, WinStar Farm. 4, Kalarikkal K. and Vilasini D. Jayaraman. 5, Marylou Whitney Stables. 6. Mr. and Mrs. W. K. Warren Jr. 7, Double Eagle Ranch & Buena Suerte Equine. 8, Robert C. Baker & William L. Mack. 9, Robert LaPenta. 10, Robert LaPenta.
Weights: 126 pounds.
Distance: 11/2 miles.
Purse: $1 million.
First place: $600,000.
Second place: $200,000.
Third place: $110,000.
Fourth place: $60,000.
Fifth place: $30,000.
BELMONT STAKES
Saturday
TV: 5 p.m., chs. 2, 7
Post time: Approximately 6:27 p.m.
