Kentucky Derby: Lukas overseeing Money Moves for Pletcher
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – No, your eyes did not deceive you – that was a colt galloping in a D. Wayne Lukas saddle towel during the reserved training window for Kentucky Derby entrants.
Hall of Fame trainer Lukas, who has started 49 horses in the Kentucky Derby and won the classic four times, is squiring around Money Moves this week for his former assistant Todd Pletcher, the only trainer who has started more horses in the race than his mentor, with 54.
Pletcher, who has won the Derby twice, is remaining in Saratoga for the final days of the summer race meeting due to travel difficulties for he and his staff caused by the coronavirus pandemic. He has deputized Lukas to house, oversee, and saddle Money Moves this week.
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The colt arrived in Louisville on Tuesday with the rest of the New York contingent, and Lukas accompanied him to the track on Wednesday and Thursday mornings aboard a stable pony.
“I just did what I was told,” said Lukas, who turned 85 on Wednesday. “Todd just said, ‘Run him like you would any of your others.’ ”
Lukas was absent from his barn for more than two weeks after testing positive for COVID-19 in mid-August and becoming quite ill. The trainer returned to the barn late in the month after recovering and testing negative.
“He’s a remarkable man,” Pletcher said. “My biggest concern was I knew he had a bout with COVID-19, and I didn’t want to be a burden in any way on him. But I could tell from talking to him that his voice was strong and he was feeling good compared to the week before. That was my main concern – I didn’t want to be a burden for him.”
Lukas has five horses of his own to saddle on the Derby Day card at Churchill Downs, including two in stakes. He has entered American Butterfly in the Grade 2 American Turf, and Notary in the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes – the first race offering points toward the 2021 Kentucky Derby.
Meanwhile, Pletcher will be watching the Derby following a busy Saturday card at Saratoga, for which he has entered 11 horses – including a pair each in the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes and the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes. The latter duo includes Dr Post, his Belmont Stakes runner-up.