Lukas expected back at work soon

As dawn broke Wednesday morning, there was still no sign of D. Wayne Lukas at his longtime Barn 44 headquarters at Churchill Downs.

But it wasn’t going to be much longer, said Lukas’s assistant, Bas Nicholl. And in any event, “he’s already back in full command of the ship” while giving instructions by phone from his home in the east end of Louisville, added Nicholl.

Lukas, who turned 80 on Sept. 2, is recovering from the heart surgery he underwent last week in Philadelphia. The iconic Hall of Fame trainer had four stents and a pacemaker implanted after becoming ill Sept. 19.

Lukas not only is the all-time leading trainer in Triple Crown (14) and Breeders’ Cup (20) wins, but he also is the career leader at Keeneland in total wins (285), stakes wins (50), and meet titles (16).

.Big weekend for Walsh

Before the final weekend of September slips completely off the radar screen, trainer Brendan Walsh wouldn’t mind savoring what he calls “maybe the best weekend of my career.”

Walsh, a 42-year-old native of Ireland, won with all three of his starters. On Saturday, Saham won the Grade 3 Jefferson Cup at Churchill and Key to Power won the Teleprompter at Arlington Park. On Sunday, Royal Story, a 2-year-old filly by Lemon Drop Kid, won her career debut at Churchill.

“It was great,” said Walsh, who opened a public stable three years ago. “It’s right up there with winning the Grade 2 [Las Vegas Marathon] last fall on Breeders’ Cup weekend” at Santa Anita.