Lukas heading home from hospital this weekend

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas is expected to return to his home in Louisville, Ky., over the weekend after spending time at a Philadelphia hospital, but he most likely will miss the Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs on Saturday. Lukas, 80, has been hospitalized since last Saturday night after experiencing a dangerous drop in heart rate. He was in the area to run horses in the Pennsylvania Derby and Cotillion at Parx Racing.

Lukas’s family on Wednesday released the following statement to Daily Racing Form:

“D. Wayne Lukas is resting at Torresdale Hospital after successfully receiving four stents and a pacemaker over the past several days,” the statement reads. “He and his wife, Laurie, hope to return to Louisville over the weekend.”

Laurie Lukas said she and her husband expect to be driving home either Saturday or Sunday, and logistically it seemed unlikely that Lukas would be able to be at Churchill Downs in time to see the Lukas Classic. The race was renamed in the trainer’s honor this year after being called the Homecoming Classic.

“I don’t see how we can make it, unfortunately,” Laurie Lukas said in a text Wednesday.

D. Wayne Lukas, a Hall of Famer, has won more Triple Crown races than any other trainer with 14.