Lukas Right At Home In Stakes Barn With Mr. Z At Preakness

BALTIMORE (AP) -- D. Wayne Lukas long ago reached the age where it's acceptable to sleep in, play a round of golf on a weekday afternoon or take a cruise to the Caribbean.

None of these activities appeal to the Hall of Fame trainer.

Lukas was sitting at the Pimlico Stakes Barn on Saturday morning, wearing his trademark boots and 10-gallon hat around nine hours before he was slated to saddle Mr. Z for the Preakness.

Lukas, 79, has absolutely no thought of riding into retirement.

"Not even remotely," he said. "This is my sanctuary. This is my life. There's no reason for me not to do this.

"What the (heck) am I going to do? I'm terrible at golf. I'm not wired to sit around. My wife said, `Well, maybe we should take a trip.' I said, `Turn on the Discovery Channel.' It isn't in my makeup."

There once was a time when he did it all, but his responsibilities have changed over the years.

"It's more of a mental job in a lot of ways," he said. "I have great help. If the straw comes in, I don't unload it. My expertise is in making executive decisions. If my health is good and my mind doesn't leave me, I should be getting better at it when I'm 90."

It's unlikely that many of his peers put in more time at the track.

"I get up at 3:30 every single day of my life and I never miss going to the barn," he said. "My colleague and good friend Bob Baffert didn't even show up this morning. He's not even here at all. And he'll be the one to beat today. So there's a lot of ways to go about this. But for me, I'm more comfortable right here."

Lukas was looking for his seventh Preakness win. He captured the first in 1980 with Codex and pulled off a surprise with Oxbow in 2013.

"It's not so much about us or even the jockeys," Lukas said. "It's about the owners. The big thing for me as a trainer is that I give them the opportunity to have a great day."

------

INFIELD FRIENDLY: The Pimlico infield was all about drinking beer, listening to live music, flirting and making bets.

The rioting and looting that occurred in Baltimore weeks earlier apparently did not play into any of this.

"I was concerned, but not overly concerned," said John Cacciutti, 23, who came down from Philadelphia. "I was coming down either way."

Cacciutti paid $80 in advance for a ticket and unlimited refills on his beer mug. It was his first Preakness.

Joe Kimsal, 47, was pleasantly surprised at the environment in the city.

"I was downtown last night, and everyone was getting along," he said. "It was if nothing happened."

Kimsal, who also came down from Pennsylvania, bought his ticket in advance, but never considered staying home.

"When that stuff was going down I was a little worried," he acknowledged, "but we were coming down even if we had to put helmets on."

------

HECK WITH HISTORY: American Pharoah came into the Preakness looking to keep alive his bid to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.

Firing Line trainer Simon Callaghan planned to do his best to prevent American Pharoah from adding his name to an exclusive list.

"It's an extremely hard thing to achieve, the Triple Crown, the way the races are structured so closely together," Callaghan said. "You need a lot of luck and a really good, tough, durable horse. We're certainly going to be trying our very best not to let that happen this year."

Unlike Lukas, who's been coming to Baltimore for decades, this was Callaghan's first visit and first Preakness.

"You've got a young guy down here with Firing Line, he doesn't know what he's in for," Lukas said. "Experience is paramount here."

(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)