'Never Say Die' Lukas Pulls Another Upset In Lexington
April 22, 2002

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas can never be counted out. He proved that once again Saturday as Proud Citizen became perhaps his most unlikely Kentucky Derby candidate yet by winning Keeneland’s Grade II Coolmore Lexington by an impressive 3 1/4-lengths.

So just when it appeared that four-time Kentucky Derby (GI) winner Lukas would miss the big dance for the second year in a row after being there for 20 straight years, it’s off to the first jewel of the 2002 Visa Triple Crown and $5-million Visa Triple Crown Challenge. The Kentucky Derby will be run at Churchill Downs on May 4. The winner’s share of the Coolmore Lexington’s $364,650 purse puts PROUND CITIZEN well up the list of graded-money winners and assures him a spot in what figures to be a 20-horse field, the limit for the Run for the Roses.

It’s unlikely that either runner-up CRIMSON HERO or third-place finisher EASYFROMTHEGITGO will join the winner in the gate on Derby Day. Lukas has maintained for years that “we’ve made a living entering where we don’t belong.” And so it seemed for Proud Citizen, who had started only once this year prior to the Coolmore Lexington – in the Grade I Santa Anita Derby - where he finished last of seven. Lukas mustered a somewhat embarrassed chuckle when reminded by television analyst Charlsie Cantey that he said he was using the Santa Anita Derby as preparation for the Coolmore Lexington. The time for the 1 1/16 miles over a drying-out track that was listed “good” was 1:44.58.

Proud Citizen, under dual Eclipse Award-winning jockey Mike Smith, staggered a bit coming out of the gate after hitting his head in a pre-start incident. But he soon found his stride and took an inside route right to the front. And that’s where he stayed, even though pressed all the way to the eighth pole. At that point, Smith asked him for another gear and he responded to pull away to the growing winning margin.

Proud Citizen is owned by the partnership of Robert Baker, David Cornstein and William Mack and following the race Lukas assured Christina Baker that she had the “big hat” horse she had wanted. The reference, of course, was to what women want to wear to the Derby. This will be the partnership’s first Kentucky Derby.

The big disappointment in the race was the 3-2 favorite and expected front-runner, ETHAN MAN, who got off a little slowly and was never a factor while finishing fifth. Nick Zito, who trains runner-up CRIMSON HERO for owner Tracy Farmer, said his colt, which was a May 21 foal, likely will run next in the Preakness Stakes (GI), the second jewel in the Visa Triple Crown, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore May 18. Probably joining that son of Capote in the Preakness will be the top two finishers of the Federico Tesio Stakes held at Pimlico on Apr. 20.

SMOKED EM, owned by the 6 Three Stable and trained by Todd Pletcher, was a solid winner as he clipped the five-race winning streak of MAGIC WEISNER, who is bred, owned and trained by Nancy H. Alberts. The son of Ameri Valay had won five straight at Laurel Park and was tackling his toughest field yet in the Tesio while finishing an honest second to SMOKED EM.

So, with a little less than two weeks until the gate is loaded for the 128th Kentucky Derby, the field is still wide open as to what 20 will go in. With more than 20 in the running, graded-stakes money becomes a major factor in who runs. Here’s the way the list of prospects, all Visa Triple Crown nominees, looks as of now, in alphabetical order: BLUE BURNER, BUDDHA, CAME HOME, CASTLE GANDOLFO, EASY GRADES, ESSENCE OF DUBAI, HARLAN'S HOLIDAY, JOHANNESBURG, Lusty Latin, MEDAGLIA D’ORO, Ocean Sound, PERFECT DRIFT, PRIVATE EMBLEM, Proud Citizen, REQUEST FOR PAROLE, SAARLAND, SUNDAY BREAK, U S S TINOSA, WAR EMBLEM, Wild Horses and WINDWARD PASSAGE.

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