Rinaldo Del Gallo, III
By: Rinaldo Del Gallo, III
Forty-four years ago, D. Wayne Lukas won the 1980 Preakness with a horse from the then starting to diminish St. Simon Sire line. That horse was Codex. It was a controversial Preakness win, with Codex veering out and pushing way out the filly Genuine Risk.
It can be seen 39 minutes into the video below, with Howard Cosell commentating. Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Arcaro was then retired and commentating. Arcaro said (responding to Howard Cosell) that “if I was a steward, of which I am not and have never been, I would have to take the number down.” Suffice it to say, Wayne Lucas’ first Preakness win in 1980 was a controversial one. There appeared a much younger Wayne Lucas, with a shock of dark hair mounting, mounting the jockey. Howard Cosell said that “I think maybe they are more concerned with keeping the record intact of never taking a number down.” On the one hand, Codex won by 4 ½ lengths. On the other hand, Codex drove the filly Genuine Risk into another zip code. Genuine Risk would go on to take 3rd in the Belmont.
The 1980 Preakness–go to minute 30 to see the race and around minute 33 to see the detailed controversy. Should Codex have come down?
Born September 2, 1935, D. Wayne Lukas was 45 when he won the 1980 Preakness.
Lukas won this year’s Preakness with Seize the Grey, and according to NBC, was the oldest trainer to win a Triple Crown race. Wayne Lucas is 89 years old.
Wayne Lukas won the 2013 Preakness with Oxbow. He also won the 1999 Preakness with Charismatic. Charismatic had won the Kentucky Derby and was third in the Belmont, where he broke down and had to be retired. Lukas, who won three Preakness Stakes in the 1990’s, won back-to-back years with Tabasco Cat in 1994 and Timber Country in 1995. Tabasco cat won the Preakness and Belmont and was second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Timber Country was a winner of the 1994 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile—in fact, most winners of that race did not go on to win a Classic when they turned three. A son of Mr. Prospector, Tanks Prospect, a horse that was second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and won the Arkansas Derby, won the Preakness in 1985, with Lukas as trainer.
VIDEO BELOW: Timber Country wins the 1995 Preakness (the 120th Preakness)
I—as everyone else—was delighted to see one of the sports great luminaries win the Preakness at the age of 89. 1980 was a long time ago.
But history is worth remembering, and that 1980 Preakness Lukas won with Codex is a controversial one. It was a long time ago when the St. Simon sire line was reasonably thriving, unlike today where it is barely hanging on with Nonios in Canada breeding horses who run at Assiniboia Downs, or some horses in Saudi Arabia. I had previously written about that here.
VIDEO BELOW: Lukas trained Oxbow (15-1) win the 2013 Preakness:
Gato Del Sol was to win the 1982 Kentucky Derby. In 1981 Pleasant Colony was to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. It was nearing the end for the St. Simon sire line in the American classics, when in 1992 Go for Gin won the Kentucky Derby. I believe Colonial Affair was to be the last St. Simon sire line horse to win an American Classic when he won the 1993 Belmont–feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
Pictured Below: Wayne Lukas speaks with Bob Baffert before the 2024 Preakness
D Wayne Lukas and Bob Baffert at the 2024 Preakness at Pimlico Racetrack
Photo Credit: Shawn Drupp
There are many interesting facts about Wayne Lukas. According to Wikipedia, Lukas was “the first trainer to earn more than $100 million in purse money, he has been the year’s top money winner 14 times.” I could go on at length as the NBC coverage did about how Wayne Lukas a few years back was not making much money because he wasn’t getting much horses, and has now made a comeback.
According to Wikipedia, “In 2013, [Wayne Lukas] surpassed Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons for the most Triple Crown race victories, with 14.” Now he has 15.
But Codex gave him that start to his thoroughbred career. (He was already a great trainer of quarter horses.) But it is to be remembered that it was a controversial victory over Genuine Risk, a very popular filly that had won the Kentucky Derby.
I will leave it up to the readers to watch the 1980 Preakness and see for themselves whether Codex should have been placed second. A fun fact—the horse that came in 4th in that 1980 Preakness and 3rd in that 1980 Kentucky Derby was Jaklin Klugman, a horse owned by Jack Klugman, who played “Oscar” in the television show “The Odd Couple.” Another fun fact, according to the Wikipedia article on Codex, “Lukas initially declined to nominate Codex for the 1980 Preakness Stakes but the horse was entered accidentally by Lukas’ 22-year-old son, Jeff, who worked as the assistant trainer.”
Another fun fact, a “codex” is “an ancient manuscript text in book form.” It is to be contrasted with a scroll. In the 3rd and 4th centuries the codex started to replace the scroll. One has to think about it—but one can see how the name “Codex” was derived from his sire’s name, “Arts and Letters.”
There is one last quirky fact I would like to impart. There are three horses favored to win all three classic races but lost all three. One was My Dad George born in 1967. One was Correlation born in 1951. Finally, there was Chief’s Crown born in 1982. In 1985 it was Wayne Lukas’ trained Tank’s Prospect that handed Chief’s Crown his loss in the Preakness.
Video Below: Tank’s Prospect just catches Chief’s Crown in a thrilling 1985 Preakness
