No Saratoga Summer For D. Wayne Lukas; High Costs Keep Trainer In Kentucky
No Saratoga Summer For D. Wayne Lukas; High Costs Keep Trainer In Kentucky originally appeared on Paulick Report.
Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas will not keep a string of horses stabled at Saratoga this summer, reports bloodhorse.com. Instead, Lukas will maintain his Kentucky bases at Churchill Downs and Ellis Park.
"If we get a colt that looks like he can run or something, we'll send him up there," Lukas told bloodhorse.com. "We're going for just stakes. If we fit a race, we'll ship them up, but we're not going to stable there."
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Lukas' reasoning for the decision was simple: high costs in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The trainer estimates that it cost $30,000 just to house himself and his staff for the summer.
Most trainers charge their owners a day rate which covers day-to-day costs like feed and payroll, but they rely on a portion of purse earnings to turn a profit. In 2024, Lukas' trainees earned a total of $315,525 at Saratoga, winning two races form 33 starts; of that total, a trainer typically earns 10 percent, or $31,525.
Thus, after starting out the meet with a $30,000 deficit for housing costs, Lukas said he finished last year's Saratoga summer season in the red.
"You've got to win a couple Grade 1s or one of those major races to break even from a trainer standpoint," Lukas told bloodhorse.com.
Regarding his current 3-year-old stable star, American Promise, Lukas could be targeting a ship north for the G2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on July 26.
Read more at bloodhorse.com.
This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
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