KENTUCKY DERBY NOTEBOOK: A HUMBLE LUKAS ELECTED TO HALL.Byline: Kevin Modesti Daily News Staff Writer Trainer D. Wayne Lukas Darrell Wayne Lukas (born September 2, 1935 in Antigo, Wisconsin) is a former educator who became one of the most successful horse trainers in American Thoroughbred horse racing history and a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee. was honored by thoroughbred racing's Hall of Fame on Tuesday - and reciprocated by downplaying his belief his election was overdue. ``This thing's bigger than any individual,'' Lukas said at Churchill Downs Churchill Downs, Ky.: see Louisville. , where he'll send Cat Thief and Charismatic in quest of his fourth Kentucky Derby Kentucky Derby One of the classic U.S. Thoroughbred horse races. It was established in 1875 and run annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs track in Louisville, Ky. With the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, it makes up U.S. racing's coveted Triple Crown. victory. ``I don't want to be one to take a stand against (the Hall of Fame's) parameters. This is an honor for everybody in my organization. I think I'd be less of a person if I didn't endorse it 100 percent.'' Lukas, 63, was elected over Neil Drysdale and Richard Mandella Richard Mandella (born November 5, 1950 in Beaumont, California) is a Thoroughbred horse trainer and a member of the Racing Hall of Fame. Mandella's father, a blacksmith, introduced him to horses at an early age and while still in high school he began breaking and training by a panel of racing journalists in his first year on the ballot. Trainers become eligible after 25 consecutive years in the sport. But Lukas and researchers contend he was saddling thoroughbreds at least a decade before 1974, when he completed a switch from quarterhorses. Also elected to the Hall of Fame were Northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern jockey Russell Baze Russell Baze (born August 7, 1958 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) is the second-most winningest jockey in the history of Thoroughbred horse racing and a member of the United States Racing Hall of Fame. and the horses Exceller (``contemporary male''), Miesque (``contemporary female'') and Gun Bow (``horse of yesteryear''). Inductions will be held Aug. 9 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Lukas, who once indicated he'd boycott the ceremony, left no doubt he'll attend. Lukas, who is based in Southern California but has horses across the nation, has dominated racing statistics in the 1980s and '90s, training a record 19 champions, winning a record 13 Breeders' Cup races and 10 Triple Crown races. Lukas' horses will soon pass $200 million in earnings. The only other trainer to reach $100 million was Charlie Whittingham. Valhol can race: Valhol's owner has won the right to collect $300,000 for a suspicious Arkansas Derby victory, and with it the right to enter the gelding gelding castrated male horse. in the Kentucky Derby. Pulaski County, Ark., Circuit Judge John Plegge ruled in favor of owner Jim Jackson, whose attorney argued the state racing commission violated due process and its own precedent by withholding the purse pending an investigation. Valhol jockey Billy Patin pat·in n. Variant of paten. faces a May 5 hearing after Arkansas Derby videotape showed him dropping what appears to be a ``buzzer'' and an Oaklawn Park worker reported finding such an electronic device on the track. The purse could then be stripped if Patin were found guilty. The ruling in Little Rock was crucial, because without it Valhol would have just $38,400 in graded-stakes earnings, too little to break into the Kentucky Derby field if more than the maximum 20 horses are entered. Beating the draft: Post positions will be set this afternoon with the same novel system as in 1998, with horses' connections ``drafting'' starting slots in a randomly selected order. Last year, one post-position number was inadvertently awarded twice, forcing embarrassed Churchill Downs officials to order a redraw To redisplay an image on screen whether text or graphics. The concept is that the first time elements are displayed, they are "drawn," and if something is changed, they are "redrawn." Applications often have a Refresh command that redraws the screen. . |
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