OZONE PARK, N.Y. – With Wayne Potts beginning a lengthy suspension Sunday, his assistant Bonnie Lucas has taken over the stable. On Sunday, Lucas sent out Catch the Smoke to win a $20,000 claiming race at Aqueduct. Lucas said she has taken out her trainer’s license and plans to be a head trainer even after Potts is eligible to return from suspension on June 24. Potts has 75 days’ worth of suspensions – 45 from the New York Gaming Commission and 30 from the New Jersey Racing Commission. “I always wanted to train horses and I’m going to keep doing what I like to do,” Lucas said Sunday. “These horses are running under me, these are my horses. I train them every day and I’m going to continue to train them every day.” Catch the Smoke had made his previous four starts for Potts at Oaklawn Park. Lucas, like Potts, was denied stalls by the New York Racing Association. Like Potts, Lucas said her horses are stabled at a training center in Westampton, N.J. – about 90 miles south of Aqueduct. :: Want to start playing with a $510 bankroll and have access to free Formulator? Learn more Lucas is facing a 30-day suspension – May 7 through June 5 – from the New Jersey Racing Commission for refusing to allow a horse to be vanned off following the fourth race on Aug. 6 at Monmouth Park despite being ordered to do so by the state veterinarian, according to the ruling on the New Jersey Racing Commission website. Potts received a 30-day suspension from the New Jersey commission for that incident as well. Lucas and Potts were two of seven individuals denied stalls by NYRA for the Aqueduct and Belmont Park spring meets. Though no specific reasons were given in their denial letters, the horsemen involved are either taking or appealing suspensions or have been deemed to have not properly cared for their horses. In addition to Potts and Lucas, trainers denied stalls by NYRA included Juan Vazquez, Marvin Richards, Michael Simmonds, Luis Miranda, and John McAllen. Those trainers are still permitted to race at NYRA tracks, but are ineligible to claim. Last fall, Lucas started 22 horses in her name – winning two races – when she filled in for Potts, who was serving a 30-day suspension for the transfer of a horse that was claimed by another trainer and moved to him inside the 30-day period for such transfers to occur.