Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024

Compiled by Robert Yates

Just Steel and Lemon Muffin, among Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas’ most prominent runners, are training at Oaklawn in advance of the 2024-2025 meeting that begins Friday.

Just Steel was the only horse to go through Oaklawn’s four-race series of Kentucky Derby qualifying races at the 2023-2024 meeting, finishing second in the $300,000 Smarty Jones Stakes, second in the $800,000 Southwest Stakes (G3), seventh in the $1.25 million Rebel Stakes (G2) and second in the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1).

After running 17^th in the Kentucky Derby, Just Steel exited a fifth-place finish in May’s Preakness – second leg of the Triple Crown – with a fracture in his right front leg that required surgery. Just Steel resumed training approximately 60 days ago, Lukas said Tuesday morning.

“He actually looks terrific,” Lukas said. “The time off and everything filled him out. He grew. He’s 17 hands. Now, he’s a man among the rest of these. I’m pretty optimistic that he’s going to have a big year.”

Lukas said he’s unsure when Just Steel will make his comeback. Oaklawn’s biggest two-turn races for older horses include the $500,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) Feb. 22, $500,000 Essex Handicap (G3) March 22, $500,000 Oaklawn Mile (G3) March 29 and the $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) April 19.

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“We’ll just let him dictate it as we go along,” Lukas said. “He hasn’t had a work yet, so we’ll go from there.”

Just Steel, sired by 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify, has a 2-4-1 record from 13 lifetime starts and earnings of $784,545.

Lemon Muffin, in her two-turn debut, broke her maiden at odds of 28-1 in the $400,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) for 3-year-old fillies last February at Oaklawn. She hasn’t won since, a seven-race skid that includes a seventh behind Horse of the Year candidate Thorpedo Anna in the $750,000 Fantasy Stakes (G2) in March at Oaklawn and an eighth behind Thorpedo Anna in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) in May at Churchill Downs.

Lukas said he believes Lemon Muffin’s form is trending upward after she rallied to finish third and second in her last two starts (Sept. 15 and Nov. 13 allowance spots at Churchill Downs).

“She’s doing good,” Lukas said. “Her last race was more like her. We’ll probably stay in our (allowance) conditions with her one more race, at least, before we move up.”

Lukas won 16 races at the 2023-2024 Oaklawn meeting to finish 10^th in the standings. One of those victories, a February entry-level allowance for 3-year-olds, came with Seize the Grey, who went on to capture the Preakness and $1 million Pennsylvania Derby (G1) before being retired to stud following an eighth-place finish in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) Nov. 2 at Del Mar.

Seize the Grey marked the seventh Preakness victory for Lukas, 89, who was Oaklawn’s leading trainer in 1987 and 2011.

“Yeah, that made the season,” Lukas said. “I tell you, the summer wasn’t that great. That really helped.”

Lukas is the eighth-winningest trainer in Oaklawn history with 368 victories.

Finish Lines

Innovator is the even-money program favorite for the 5 1/-furlong $150,000 Advent Stakes for 2-year-olds Friday at Oaklawn. The Advent is the first of a single-season Oaklawn record 57 stakes races scheduled to be run in 2024-2025. … Trainer Joe Petalino, who has a small string at Oaklawn, has 995 career North American victories, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization. Petalino has 163 career Oaklawn victories, including 32 in 2000 when he topped the standings. … Two members of Oaklawn’s racing department, Michael Feichtinger and Steven Moyer, swapped positions for the 2024-2025 meeting. Michael Feichtinger is now stakes coordinator after working last season as paddock judge. Moyer, a former trainer, shifted from stakes coordinator to paddock judge.