Oaklawn Park: Lukas finishes as leading trainer for first time since 2005

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.- Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas locked up the Oaklawn Park title on Saturday to earn  his first training championship since taking the fall title at Turfway Park in 2005.

Lukas won 27 races from 126 starts during the Oaklawn season that closed Saturday, finishing three wins clear of second-leading trainer Allen Milligan. Lukas’s runners  earned $846,610, which ranked second in meet earnings behind the $1.1 million banked by horses from the stable of trainer Larry Jones.

Lukas, 75, will now be based in Kentucky. The title Saturday was his second Oaklawn crown, with his first coming in 1987. Earlier in his career, Lukas had racked up a slew of titles between California and Kentucky.

Cliff Berry dominated the jockey standings this meet at Oaklawn, with 62 wins from 322 starts, for mount earnings of $1.6 million. Terry Thompson ranked second in the standings with 44 wins, and $1.2 million in mount earnings. Berry will now be based at Lone Star Park near Dallas. Thompson said he is returning this year to Prairie Meadows.

The leading owner by wins was Midwest Thoroughbreds, with 20 wins from 87 starts.