Bob and Beverly Lewis's Commendable wins the Belmont Stakes and vaults trainer D. Wayne Lukas to a tie for most career Triple Crown race victories

It was the wrong year and the wrong horse, but the feelings boiling up within trainer D. Wayne Lukas were all right.

Standing in the Belmont Park trustees' room, surrounded by a small group of people he did not know, Lukas stared intently at a television monitor, seeing his sleek chestnut charge Commendable gliding effortlessly to the lead as the field in the 132nd Belmont Stakes (G1) headed into the far turn. "Commendable is going to win the Belmont," Lukas declared matter of factly to a woman standing next to him.

Few others in the crowd of 67,810 who turned out in sultry heat and humidity for the grueling 1 1/2-mile classic contest on June 10 would have predicted that Commendable-who had earned only a maiden score from his previous seven career starts-would win. With not even a shrug of celebration, Lukas continued to watch the son of Gone West scamper down the stretch and across the finish line, defeating favored Aptitude, with Unshaded and Wheelaway in third and fourth, respectively.

"When they hit the wire, this woman said, 'How did you know he would win?' " Lukas recounted. "I said, 'Because I train him.' She just about fell over. She said, 'Oh my God, my God. You're kidding! You never even moved.'

"I didn't want to create a scene," Lukas said of his lack of an immediate reaction to the victory, which tied him with the late, legendary trainer James E. "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons for the most wins in Triple Crown races with 13, including four Belmont scores.

There was plenty of time for the rush of emotion later, especially when owners Bob and Beverly Lewis dashed down to the track to greet him. Just last year, Lukas and the Lewises had watched in helpless horror as their gallant Charismatic, who had won both the 1999 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1), broke bones in his left foreleg in the Belmont stretch and hobbled home third.

"Wayne!" Beverly Lewis shrieked happily before hugging Lukas.

"I had a good feeling in the paddock, Wayne," Bob Lewis exulted.

"I had a good feeling all day," Lukas replied before tossing some of the white victory carnations into a cheering cluster of fans.

All the "heartaches and trials of our previous runs in the Belmont with Silver Charm (trained by Bob Baffert) and Charismatic are erased by this victory," Bob Lewis reflected later, recalling the couple's New York disappointments of 1997 and '99.

"I would have much rather done this last year with the same people" and Charismatic, Lukas added with wry laugh. "We could have got $5-million (the Triple Crown bonus offered by series sponsor Visa U.S.A.) for it. But, you count your blessings, and we'll take this one, and we'll go to the bank on Monday smiling.

"I still think there's one of those (Triple Crowns) out there for us," he said, taking on the prophet's role again. "I told (Visa President) Carl Pascarella, 'Don't drop the bonus. I want it.' "

Odds and omens

No one but Lukas-who was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1999, the same year he elevated Charismatic from a $62,500 claimer to Horse of the Year and upset the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) with longshot Cat Thief-seemed to have any faith in Commendable. Bettors dismissed him at 18.80-to-1, the eighth choice in the field of 11 three-year-olds.

The Lewises questioned whether the colt, who finished a dismal 17th of 19 behind winner Fusaichi Pegasus in the Derby on May 6, should be entered in the Belmont. Jockey Pat Day, who had ridden two previous Belmont winners, also had his doubts.

"On Wednesday morning, prior to the (Belmont post position) draw, I called Coach Lukas and said, 'Hey, are you sure we're doing the right thing here?' I was getting a little weak-kneed," Bob Lewis said.

"He wasn't too weak," retorted Lukas, who was a basketball coach before training racehorses. "I said, 'Absolutely, we should run.' He said, 'Good, you're driving the bus, go on with it.' "

Day, who had piloted Commendable to his best finishes prior to the Belmont this year (fourth in the March 4 San Rafael Stakes [G2] at Santa Anita Park and in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes [G2] on April 22 at Keeneland Race Course), agreed to ride the colt again based solely on Lukas's confidence.

"One thing I've learned over the years is that you can't count Mr. Lukas out of these major fixtures," said Day, who now has ridden five of Lukas's 13 Triple Crown race winners.

Even his fellow trainers could not quite believe Lukas was going to run Commendable, who had won his first career race at Del Mar on August 14 and had not even placed since then.

The morning after entries for the Belmont were taken at a breakfast attended by many of the race participants, trainer Bobby Frankel, who conditions Aptitude, stood with Lukas on the Belmont Park apron, sipping coffee while watching horses working out. Frankel asked Lukas if he had decided to put Commendable in the race.

Lukas was somewhat taken aback by the query because the entries had been widely publicized but viewed it as a "hell of an omen. ... I said, 'Yeah, Bob, I'll make their hearts pound for a little while and then you (and Aptitude) can take over,' " he recalled with a chuckle.

The lack of attention and the doubts just made Lukas feel better and better. "I love it," he said of playing the underdog. "All my life, when they say you can't do something, it drives me. I feed off that. I said to Bob and Beverly about an hour before the race, 'We do our best work when they don't expect it.' "

Bacon and eggs

Arriving in the paddock just before the Belmont, there was another omen that at first appeared to be a bad one. Turning on the rubber bricks that line the walkways, Commendable yanked the shoe off his left front foot, which Lukas said was the first time in "all my 43 years of training" that one of his horses had pulled a shoe in the saddling area.

Lukas said he was not too concerned because the shoe came off cleanly without damaging the hoof, but the blacksmith who had to quickly put on a new plate "was a hell of a lot more worried. The (sweat) was pouring off him," Lukas said. New York Racing Association (NYRA) officials also suffered many anxious moments prior to the last jewel of the Triple Crown. Known as the Test of Champions, the Belmont was whittled down to a struggle headlined by Derby runner-up Aptitude and Impeachment, third in the Derby and Preakness. Both colts, like Commendable, sported only maiden wins on their career records.

After the defections of Preakness winner Red Bullet (in favor of a summer campaign) and Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus (for a minor foot injury), the 2000 Belmont was the first in 30 years that lacked either of the previous classic winners. There was not even one Grade 1 winner among the starters.

Red Bullet's owner, Frank Stronach, said he preferred to aim his colt at other races, and trainer Neil Drysdale opted not to run Fusaichi Pegasus after he said the colt scratched a dime-sized notch out of his right front foot when startled in his stall at Aqueduct a week before the Belmont.

That left NYRA without a classic star and few compelling story lines to promote, but with a wide-open betting affair. Fans made Juddmonte Farms' Aptitude, who did not contest the Preakness, the 1.75-to-1 Belmont favorite.

Unshaded, the Coolmore Lexington winner over Commendable who subsequently finished second in the Peter Pan Stakes (G2) on May 27 and had been supplemented to the Belmont by owner James Tafel for $100,000, was next at 5.50-to-1.

Wheelaway, who took the lead in the Derby before tiring to finish fifth, was 5.70-to-1, while Impeachment was 6.40-to-1.

With little pace in the race besides 40.25-to-1 longshot Hugh Hefner, who finished sixth of eight in the Preakness, Lukas told Day to stay close to the lead but to save Commendable's energy as much as possible. Day was the key to Lukas's decision to try Commendable in the Belmont because his patient riding style fit the colt like "bacon and eggs," the trainer said.

The race proceeded to unfold "like a Hollywood script" for Lukas, who retreated to the air-conditioned trustees' room to escape the heat.

Hugh Hefner and jockey Jorge Chavez galloped to the lead as expected while Day tucked Commendable right behind him in second. Breaking with his neck bowed and exuding power, Wheelaway was a close third, while Aptitude, Impeachment, and Unshaded dawdled at the back of the pack, about 11 lengths behind the leader down the backstretch.

After slow early fractions of :24.12, :49.29, and 1:14.39 for the first six furlongs, Day was still sitting in second, 2 1/2 lengths behind, when Hugh Hefner hit a mile in a leisurely 1:39.11. Then Commendable began to pull Day to the front going into the far turn, and he spurted to a 2 1/2-length lead after 1 1/4 miles in a pokey 2:05.13.

Wheelaway and Unshaded loomed boldly on Commendable's outside, and Aptitude scooted rapidly up the rail, but Commendable, still fresh off the easy fractions, would not be caught.

Day said Commendable, pricking his ears and responding to the jockey's smooches and hand urging, showed no signs of tiring. "I felt very good all the way down the stretch. I felt like if anybody came to him and offered a challenge, that there was some reserve there," Day said.

Although Aptitude rallied valiantly, the A.P. Indy colt could get no closer than 1 1/2 lengths at the wire. Unshaded was another length back, and six in front of Wheelaway, with both sons of Unbridled apparently suffering from the 92 degree heat. Following them across the finish line were Impeachment, Appearing Now, Postponed, Hugh Hefner, Tahkodha Hills, Globalize, and Curule, who was eased by jockey Jerry Bailey after being checked on the far turn.

Frankel said he "was very disappointed" in Aptitude's second-place finish after being "way too far back" early under jockey Alex Solis, who said the colt did not seem to handle the racetrack in the first part of the race.

"He ran a really great race, but he used himself up getting to the leaders," said Frankel, who added, "Give Lukas credit. I don't know how he did it." Trainer John Kimmel said Wheelaway and jockey Richard Migliore had a "perfect trip" but that the big gray colt "didn't finish the way I thought he should have. I have some serious concerns about how the heat affected him today because he came back a little wobbly."

Unshaded, pulled up by jockey Shane Sellers on the clubhouse turn after the race, was treated for mild heat exhaustion. Trainer Carl Nafzger gave Day credit for "stealing" the Belmont. "You can't let a horse get away like that with Pat Day up and think you can beat him," Nafzger said.

Commendable's Belmont time on a fast track was 2:31.19, the third slowest in the past 30 years, quicker only than the 2:34 recorded by High Echelon on a sloppy track in 1970 and the 2:32 of Lukas-trained Thunder Gulch on a fast track in 1995.

The $600,000 winner's check from the $1-million Belmont boosted Commendable's career earnings to $688,470. He now sports a record of 2-0-0 in eight starts.

Yet another record

With the victory, Commendable set what is believed to be a modern-era record for becoming the first horse to win a Belmont after competing in the Derby but running in no other race between the first and third legs of the Triple Crown. "It makes for great copy, and you can analyze this stuff and say that no horse did this or no horse skipped that and won this one, but in the final analysis the horse is the most important ingredient in all this. The trainer and the rider come secondary, trust me," Lukas said.

After maintaining all spring that this year's three-year-olds are a talented bunch while discounting the widely held notion that Fusaichi Pegasus, whom he refers to as "the Pegasus horse," is a superstar, Lukas said Commendable now should be ranked equally with the Derby winner and Red Bullet.

In Commendable's Belmont performance, Lukas finally found the gem he felt he had mined all along after purchasing the colt for the Lewises for $575,000 at the 1998 Keeneland July yearling sale. Ever since the first time Commendable galloped on a racetrack, Lukas said he was "an extremely gifted horse," and his fluid stride led Lukas to tell Bob Lewis last year that Commendable would be a perfect horse for the Belmont.

"He is one of those horses that just impresses you in the morning to no end, and every time he works faster than most of our horses ever do," Lukas said. Commendable, however, had trouble demonstrating his ability in races, and Lukas said his Derby effort, in which the colt gave up after being intimidated while caught in traffic, left the trainer "terribly disappointed" and "very distraught."

Yet moments after that bitter failure, before Commendable had even cooled out, Lukas said he decided to send him on to the Belmont. Another stable star, High Yield, whom the Lewises co-own, won the Fountain of Youth (G1) and the Blue Grass (G1) Stakes under Day earlier in the year but also ran poorly in the Derby and was taken off the Triple Crown trail after finishing next to last in the Preakness.

Lukas refused to give up on Commendable, however. "I think you have to have undying confidence in what you're doing and in your horse's ability. I think you can't waiver. You've got to let it all hang out and go for it. I knew, if I got what I saw in the morning in the afternoon, we would win some races. I told Bob and Beverly that over and over. I said this horse has a brilliance you won't believe."

That is a quality also shared by the trainer, who said he did not know the Belmont win tied him with Fitzsimmons, whose 70-year training career extended from 1894 to 1963, in the record books until it was announced by NYRA. "It's flattering, because of the guy who held it," Lukas said. "It's something I'll really think about if I get a little bit of time. I hope to set some records that maybe some guy ten years from now will stand here and say, 'Gosh, we just equaled (Lukas's) record.' "

Lukas planned no elaborate celebrations after the Belmont, saying he was going to order chicken strips and french fries from room service at the Garden City Hotel. Already, he is looking toward next year's Triple Crown series, noting that a two-year-old Seeking the Gold colt named Duality he trains for Padua Stables and Phillips Racing Partnership broke his maiden impressively at Churchill Downs on the same day Commendable stunned the racing world.

Lingering longer than usual at his Belmont barn while signing autographs, taking congratulatory phone calls, and gazing admiringly toward Commendable, who was being brushed and pampered by groom Juan Aguayo, Lukas savored the exceptional moment.

"Do him up, Juan," Lukas said. "He's a good one."

Highlights

• First modern-day horse to win the Belmont in his next start after the Derby
• Gives D. Wayne Lukas a record-tying 13th classic victory
• Wins first Belmont in 30 years that lacked either Derby or Preakness winner
• Scores only his second career victory in 1 1/2-mile classic
• Gone West colt confirms trainer's faith in $575,000 yearling

Jockey's decision to take the mount on Commendable was key to winner's entry, Lukas says

In the 92 degree swelter of a late-spring day at Belmont Park, Pat Day was focused on only one thing as he returned to the Belmont Stakes (G1) winner's circle aboard Commendable-getting his mount some relief from the heat.

Unconcerned by the chaos erupting around him, he reached down for a sponge and began to squeeze cool water on top of the chestnut colt's head. A moment later, Day was getting his picture taken with a stifling blanket of carnations draped over Commendable's neck and his lap.

"Wahoo," Day said, "a little warm, but it's awesome."

In a literal sense, both Day and his mount cooled off soon enough. In a more figurative way, the cagey veteran's well-judged ride aboard Commendable will insure that he stays hot for a long time. His success stems from a simple philosophy, an elementary rule he remembers every time he gets a leg up from a trainer.

"My whole thing about race riding is, try not to compromise the horse's action. Try to get along with him," Day said. "I certainly got along with him today."

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who quelled doubts in his camp about entering the colt in the Belmont, said the jockey's decision to take the mount was paramount in the decision to enter Commendable in the Belmont. In a race where pace figured to be a critical factor, Lukas said Day and Commendable go together like "bacon and eggs."

"I really wanted Pat Day," said Lukas. "I'm not saying we wouldn't have run without him, but we really felt good when we got him." Day said he took the mount based on the confidence expressed by Lukas, and a wish to atone for Commendable's loss in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes (G2) on April 22.

"I was disappointed in my performance," Day said. "I had him in traffic and didn't get clear until too late. I came up here based on Wayne's confidence. I (threw) my leg over this horse in the paddock expecting a big effort and I got exactly what I was expecting."

More than one rival accused Day of brazen thievery after the winning ride. But no one should have been shocked to see Day steal a race. Soon after winning his first race at Prescott Downs in 1973, Day developed a reputation as a master of pace. While his detractors sometimes call him "Wait All" Day, more often than not he sits chilly until precisely the right moment.

The mechanics of it all are somewhat of a mystery, even to Day. Though he may have a stopwatch in his head, he says he does not look at it while in the saddle.

"I'm more concerned about how the horse is traveling up underneath me, than what the clock says," Day said.

The victory marks the third time Day has ridden a Belmont Stakes winner. He was aboard Easy Goer in 1989 to spoil the Triple Crown bid of Sunday Silence. He teamed up with Lukas in 1994 to win with Tabasco Cat. He has won the Preakness Stakes (G1) five times, including three consecutive victories in 1994-'96. He has won the Kentucky Derby once.

Day was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1991 after earning his fourth Eclipse Award as the nation's leading rider. His 1991 campaign remains one of the most astounding efforts in history. He won 430 races that year, a record 60 of them stakes races.

Patrick Alan Day has come a long way from Eagle, Colorado, where he grew up dreaming of life on the rodeo circuit. Two years of bronco riding convinced him there had to be a better way. He is on a different circuit now, riding a different kind of horse. It turns out he is much better working with horses than he was working against them.

-Steve Myrick

Thirteenth Triple Crown win ties Fitzsimmons, makes Lukas the dominant modern classics trainer

D. Wayne Lukas stood in a quiet corner of the air-conditioned trustees' room at Belmont Park three hours before the June 10 Belmont Stakes (G1), wearing his trademark dark suit and sunglasses, alone with his thoughts.

"It's hot out there, so I'm pacing myself," was all Lukas would say. "It's going to be a long day."

He was not thinking that in a few short hours his name would be forever etched in Triple Crown training lore.

It was Lukas's legacy that grew on a hot, humid, steamy day after Robert and Beverly Lewis's Commendable scored an upset victory in the 132nd Belmont Stakes at odds of 18.80-to-1. Lukas's fourth Belmont triumph gave him his 13th Triple Crown victory, equaling the record number of classic wins held by James E.

"Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons and making him the dominant modern-era classics trainer.

"I didn't know that statistic, and I hope it isn't the last time we get together in one of these classics," Lukas said after Commendable held off Aptitude to win the Belmont. "We're going to continue to win some more, but that is flattering because of the man who held it."

This year's ending was a stark contrast to the finish of last year's race, when Lukas and the Lewises watched Charismatic finish third in his valiant effort to win the Triple Crown, running on a broken leg at the finish. Another contrast, one Lukas admitted he enjoyed, was the virtual lack of attention around his barn in the days leading up to the race. Commendable entered the Belmont with only one victory, in his debut at Del Mar racetrack last August, and was a nondescript 17th in the Kentucky Derby (G1), beaten 26 lengths by Fusaichi Pegasus.

"I love the underdog role. I relish it," Lukas said. "I've thought all of my life, when you say I can't do something it drives me, and it drives my organization. I feed off it. I motivate my help off it. Whenever you say you can't get (1994 Belmont winner) Tabasco Cat to run a mile and half or can't get Commendable to go here or there, we love it. I said to Bob and Beverly an hour before the race that we do our best work when they don't expect it."

Lukas had been on the fence about whether to enter Commendable in the Belmont or the seven-furlong Riva Ridge Stakes (G2) on the undercard. "We didn't have any grandiose ideas we would come in and overwhelm this field," he said. "In fact, we didn't think we could do it as easily as we did. It was more important to me to play the cards dealt. The more I looked at the abilities the other horses had, the more confident I grew that, at least, we could have a say in the outcome."

First and foremost, Lukas had to find a way to get the Gone West colt to perform as well in the afternoon as he did in the morning.

"I even said to my wife, all I have to do is see this afternoon what I see every week in the morning," Lukas said. "This is a very, very gifted horse with a great stride. One of the attributes of all of the trainers who have won these classic races is that you have to have underlying confidence in what you're doing and in your horse's ability and not waver."

If anyone in Thoroughbred racing did not realize it before it was illustrated once again on June 10, never disregard a D. Wayne Lukas-trained three-year-old in a Triple Crown race.

-Tom De Martini