For the better part of a quarter century from 1978 to the early 2000s, the Southern California sun would rise over the mountains to find D. Wayne Lukas already hard at work.
If he was already beating as consistent a competitor as the sun on a daily basis, you can imagine what he did to the competition on the racetrack.
The now-legendary career of one of racing's most influential horsemen used Southern California as a launching pad, and although the last two decades of his career were spent being based elsewhere, his impact can still be felt. Santa Anita Park honors that legacy Feb. 7 by renaming the Santa Monica Stakes, which Lukas himself won six times, after "The Coach."
Just a little over seven months after his death, the $200,000 D. Wayne Lukas Stakes (G2) will spark many emotions for those at the track, and those participating, but perhaps none more so than the connections of Lemon Muffin.
READ: Industry-Shaping Horseman Lukas Dies at 89
When it comes time for the race, owner Dr. Aaron Sones will step into the Santa Anita paddock wearing his Lukas Racing Stables hat and laying his eyes on the 5-year-old gray or roan mare who, two years ago, took him and Lukas to one of racing's biggest stages: the Kentucky Oaks (G1).
"Wayne was a very good friend of mine. I miss him all the time," Sones said.
The friendship between Lukas and Sones, a physician who now serves as a director for the family-owned Jackson Hole Trust Company in Wyoming, goes back several decades.
"I can't stress enough how great a man he was, and how close we were to him. How much love we have for that guy," Sones said. "He just was a great ambassador for the sport."
Lemon Muffin, a daughter of Collected out of the Canadian Frontier mare Pelt, holds a special connection back to Lukas as one of his last stable stars. Purchased for $140,000 at the 2023 Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, she was sent to Lukas. After finishing eighth in her debut, she would place second in maiden company for four straight races.
Lukas had always been known for taking chances with his horses and, despite Lemon Muffin being winless, he entered her at Oaklawn Park in the 2024 Honeybee Stakes (G3). She rose to the occasion, pulling off a 28-1 upset with a 3 1/2-length triumph. When the microphone turned to Lukas in the winner's circle, he gave the credit to Sones.
"I've got to give credit to the owner," Lukas said. "Aaron Sones called me and said 'Would you have the (guts) to put her in the Honeybee?' I said, 'Yes, I think that's where we ought to go.' So he pushed me in that direction and I loved it."
They didn't know it then, but that day Lemon Muffin became Lukas' second-last individual graded stakes winner. Seize the Grey would become the final a few months later with his win in the Pat Day Mile Stakes (G2) before going on to take the Preakness Stakes (G1) and Pennsylvania Derby (G1).
Lemon Muffin would run eighth in the Oaks, but a year later on Kentucky Derby (G1) day, she would earn Lukas his second-last victory with a 2 3/4-length win against allowance foes. On June 13, she ran fourth in an allowance optional claiming race at Churchill Downs. Nine days later, it was announced that medical issues would force Lukas to step away from training. One week after that, he died.
"We were devastated, he died so sudden," Sones recalled. "We'd seen him in May, and all of a sudden, he was gone."
The question then came: What to do with Lemon Muffin?
Lukas' longtime assistant, Sebastian "Bas" Nicholl, temporarily took over the stable immediately following Lukas' death before stepping down in July. Lemon Muffin would end up in the barn of trainer Rodolphe Brisset, for whom she'd run fifth in an Aug. 21 allowance optional claimer at Saratoga Race Course.
However, while building targets for the mare's 5-year-old season, the Santa Monica was on her radar early in the year. Sones, along with co-owners Julie Gilbert, his wife, and Harrison Sones, opted to ship Lemon Muffin west to California. There, her training was taken over by Patrick Gallagher, who has trained many horses for Sones including 2016 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1) runner Trojan Nation.
As fate would have it, Sones would soon learn the Santa Monica was to be renamed after Lukas by 1/ST Racing.
"We were very excited about that," he said. "We wanted to run her in that race, and when they named it after Lukas—what could be better?"
Lemon Muffin was a well-beaten sixth in her California debut, the Bayakoa Stakes (G3) at Del Mar Nov. 30, but with the Lukas at 7 furlongs she now cuts back to one turn for the first time since her one-turn mile allowance victory at Churchill Downs.
"She got here, and Paddy's got her looking good," Sones said. "She's very special. It would be the greatest thing on Earth to win that race."
Sones said despite Lukas' physical absence, he can still feel the trainer's presence in every decision he's made with the horse.
"Everything we do is tied to Wayne because of all the things he taught us," Sones said.
With her being 30-1 on the morning line, and going up against 2025 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) winner Splendora, victory will be a tough mountain to climb Saturday for Lemon Muffin. If she could pull it off, it can be counted as the last trick up Lukas' legendary sleeves.
"We're just hoping Wayne is looking after us from heaven," Sones said. "If anybody can pull it off, it's him."
