He fused good horsemanship with corporate savvy, becoming the face of the sport while leading a coast-to-coast operation in the 1980s and beyond.

By BETH HARRIS For over 50 years, D. Wayne Lukas set the standard in horse racing. And the sport followed suit. Trainers wanted to be like Wayne. Owners wanted him handling their horses. He died

"Wayne Lukas reinvented the game," Lanny Kohnhorst, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association's Director of Horsemen's Relations. "Wayne produced champions, from Grade 1 winners to stallion prospects to next generation of trainers, and defined American Thoroughbred racing."