by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 30, 2025
Churchill Downs posted a photo of the late trainer D. Wayne Lukas’ pony making one final visit to the track today, the saddle empty, his black boots reversed in the stirrups, the traditional way of honoring a fallen hero.
Outrider Greg Blasi with D. Wayne Lukas’ pony at Churchill Downs in a tribute to the late trainer. (Photo courtesy Churchill Downs)
Wayne was a familiar sight at the track in the mornings, watching from horseback as the thoroughbreds he trained galloped through their workouts. Just standing there, he made an impression wearing his big cowboy hat, and more recently, a helmet without a chin strap. He became as integral a part of any track as the starting gate or the tote board.
His horses won 15 Triple Crown races and 20 Breeders’ Cup races; he received four Eclipse Awards for Outstanding Trainer. Among his many stellar runners were Winning Colors, Serena’s Song, Thunder Gulch, and Lady’s Secret.
“The Coach” died Saturday, shortly after announcing his retirement from training at age 89. He was suffering from an MRSA infection, saying that instead of seeking treatment, he wanted to spend what time he had left with his family.
Jockey Frankie Dettori recalled, “I’ll never forget walking into the barn at Churchill Downs and seeing him, sharp as ever in his cowboy hat, already working before sunrise. The man had a presence, you felt it even before he spoke.”
Fellow trainer Bob Baffert recalled that Wayne, someone he met when both were racing quarter horses, “was a game changer, transforming horse racing for the better. He made it so the horse’s bloodlines were more important than the owner’s. He created a system of flying his horses coast to coast, establishing a presence at every major racetrack in America.
“And Wayne didn’t just show up. He dominated. He won so much he became known as “D. Wayne off the plane”. He developed the blueprint the rest of us still follow. He was a true visionary,” Bob continued.
“The horses were everything to Wayne. They were his life. From the way he worked them, how he cared for them, and how he maintained his shed row as meticulously as he did his horses. No detail was too small. Many of us got our graduate degrees in training by studying how Wayne did it.”
Wayne was as good at making people comfortable as he was in getting the best out of his horses.
As Bob observed, “He had a knack for making others feel seen and valued.”
One of those on the receiving end of Wayne’s warmth was Jamie Saults, a talent assistant and stage manager for NBC. At the Derby this year, when Wayne saw her, he said, “We go way back, don’t we?”
So Jamie sat down and talked to him for a little while.
“I told him I had one of his trophies and asked him if he wanted it,” she recounted.
He replied, “I just donated 7,500 of them to the museum. You keep it, honey.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 25, 2025
Ilex, ridden to team silver in the 2024 Olympics by McLain Ward, has gone back Bonne Chance Farm so he can once more represent Brazil.
“We are grateful for the opportunity that we were given to ride and compete Ilex to numerous 5-star Grand Prix successes and to bring home the team silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games,” McLain commented.
“Thank you to Gilberto Sayao and his team at Bonne Chance for this opportunity and supporting our journey to achieve lofty goals. A special thank you to Fabio Leivas da Costa (Ilex’s former rider), Lucia Rivas and Diego Perez Bilbao for their efforts in creating this partnership. Ilex has been a wonderful partner with an exuberant and kind personality and we look forward to seeing his continued success in the sport.”
McLain Ward and Ilex. (Photo © 2025 by Nancy Jaffer)
Ilex will now be ridden by Brazil’s Marlon Modolo Zanotelli, who competed in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 World Championships.
“While we will miss Ilex in our stable, we are pleased to see him with a rider and horseman of the quality of Marlon Zanotelli,” McLain stated.
Meanwhile, McLain has a sensational new horse in Imperial HBF, formerly ridden by Great Britain’s Tim Gredley. Imperial put in two clear rounds in last month’s Rome Nations Cup, where anchor rider McLain clinched victory for the U.S.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 18, 2025
British course designer Alec Lochore will produce the eventing cross-country route for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics at Santa Anita Park, the FEI (international equestrian federation) announced Wednesday.
No stranger to the Games, Alec was the eventing manager at the 2012 Olympics in London, overseeing not only planning for cross-country at Greenwich Park, but also serving in the same role at the Tokyo Games in 2021. The 53-year-old official’s resume also includes experience at the FEI World Equestrian Games and the European Championships, as well as two terms on the FEI eventing committee.
“I am humbled, honored and delighted to have been asked to design the cross-country track for the Olympic Games LA28,” Alec said.
“It will be a great challenge, and one which I am looking forward to immensely.
“I am fortunate enough to have been involved with the organization and planning of several Olympic Games, and each Olympics is unique and special. The Olympics is the biggest showcase that our sport — that any sport — has, and to be chosen as course designer is very exciting.”
According to FEI President Ingmar de Vos, Alec “was instrumental in advising the FEI on the cross-country feasibility at the LA28 equestrian venue at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia and we are confident that, in cooperation with Mike Etherington-Smith, he will design a course that challenges the world’s best while showcasing the heart of our sport to a wider global audience.”
Mike, a former chief executive of British eventing, laid out the cross-country at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and was the longtime designer of the Kentucky 5-star.
Alec designs more than 50 courses each year, including for such well-known events as the Burnham Market CCI 4-star, as well as Houghton International and Barbury Castle, also 4-stars. He has also taken his talent abroad, working in India, Australia and Zambia.
In the U.S., he designed at TerraNova, east of Sarasota, Fla., where the November 2024 4-star Long was the country’s last major event of the year.
Santa Anita racetrack hosted the 1984 Olympic equestrian competition, with the exception of cross-country, which was on a golf course near San Diego, south of Los Angeles.
Santa Anita Park.
The facility’s selection at the LA28 equestrian venue was a surprise to many, since it seemed that Galway Downs in Temecula had the inside track for the competition under the decision that every phase of the competition had to be at the same location. But Galway, a frequent eventing venue, is further from Los Angeles than Santa Anita, which is in a more populated area close to many hotels, and it is felt that Arcadia would be cooler in July than Temecula.
There were questions about how cross-country could be held at Santa Anita. However, the track is set on 320 acres, and it has a lot of topography, as well as great view of the San Gabriel mountains.
A huge crowd watched at Santa Anita in 1984 when Mark Todd won eventing gold at the Olympics.
It is home to as many as 2,000 horses, with the exception of August, when the thoroughbreds move south to Del Mar so the track can work on maintenance. It also has a veterinary hospital that offers nuclear scintigraphy which utilizes small tracer amounts of radioactive molecules to diagnose diseases involving bone, soft tissues and vessels. It will need to house only 200 horses for the Olympic equestrian competition.
There is ample room for cross-country in the areas set aside for parking, as well as in the infield, where a 5-star grand prix was held last autumn and will be staged again this November.
Work on the Santa Anita cross-country track is scheduled to begin “in the coming weeks.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 19, 2025
A two-year-old video reportedly showing Australian Olympian Heath Ryan striking a horse 42 times has led to the FEI (international equestrian federation) opening an investigation into the trainer’s actions after allegations of abusive training techniques.
“The scenes depicted are profoundly disturbing and stand in stark opposition to the core values of FEI horse welfare,” FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez said.
Coordinating with Equestrian Australia, she emphasized the FEI will “thoroughly examine all the facts and determine further disciplinary action under the FEI Rules and Regulations. We are committed to ensuring that any behavior which puts horse welfare at risk is dealt with firmly and fairly.”
Equestrian Australia CEO Sam Jones said, “We know our community is keen for answers, but we would ask for patience, as the FEI rightly follows a thorough and fair process, in line with their policies and procedures.”
Ryan, 66, a 2008 dressage Olympian who coached his nation’s eventing team to gold medals at the Atlanta and Sydney Games, said the video was posted by a disgruntled former employee. Ryan characterized the whipping incident as a “rescue mission” for a horse named Nico, saying he “had the horse’s best interests as the sole consideration.”
Heath Ryan. (Equesstrian Australia photo)
He then explained that it was a a “life-and-death” situation for the horse and it was in fact saving the animal from the “knackery” (slaughterhouse).
“I have never ridden anything like it. I am so sad this was caught on video. If I had been thinking of myself, I would have immediately just gotten off and sent Nico to the knackery,” he said.
“That video was a life-or-death moment for Nico and of that I was very aware. I felt I genuinely had to try my very hardest to see if Nico would consider other options. Anyway, by the end of that initial ride, I did feel Nico was responding.
“I rode Nico for another couple of days and he responded very well and started to go without the use of excessive driving aids.”
Ryan commented that Nico “had always been a problem child and would just stop,” eventually resulting in the hospitalization of his rider at the time.
He contended Nico is now “thriving in a loving and competitive home with an exciting future.”
The FEI, which will provide no further comment while the investigation continues, asks anyone who witnessed the incident or who possesses relevant information or evidence to contact the FEI at welfare@fei.org.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 23, 2025
At its mid-year meeting, the U.S. Equestrian federation made rule changes “in keeping with its ongoing commitment to equine welfare,”
including one that allows testing of a horse’s hair, as well as blood and urine, for detection of certain prohibited substances such as barbiturates (including the euthanasia drug).
Using hair for testing can be done more readily than blood and urine, and involves a considerably longer period of time for revealing presence of a drug. A full list of banned substances will be published prior to rule implementation July 1.
Also effective July 1 are rules dealing with horse collapse at hunter and jumper shows.
“The intent is to ensure horses received appropriate care and are fit to compete before they return to the ring after an unexplained collapse,” according to USEF.
This rule will be modified to state that any horse/pony who collapses at one of these competitions is barred from competing for a minimum of seven days afterward, and is not permitted on the grounds of a USEF-licensed competition during that time. The horse may compete again only if a licensed veterinarian files a form with the federation attesting to the fact that the horse has been examined and is fit to return to competition.
Originally, a horse who collapsed was to be barred from competing for 14 days, but members felt that was too long, and that seven days, combined with removal from the showgrounds, would be more effective.
A rule going into effect Dec. 1 requires veterinarians treating horses on competition grounds to register with USEF, but does not mandate they become members. The new rule ensures event organizers have contact information for practicing veterinarians in the event they need to issue communication about disease outbreaks, biosecurity and best practices for rule compliance.
Some business along welfare lines has been referred to future meetings. They include Hunter/Jumper competition mileage and points, whip use, blood on a horse and return to competition. Board members wanted more work on the proposed changes before voting on them.
The board approved position statements for the organization on Equine Overuse and Equine Safety and Welfare.
The latter emphasizes USEF’s commitment to ensuring horses are fit to compete, maintaining optimal conditions for equine welfare, increasing uniformity, integrity and clarify through oversight, providing lifetime care for horses, and sharing information that enhances safety for every horse, every day.
The Equine Overuse statement acknowledges the growth of competition calendars in several disciplines, which has resulted in more opportunities for horses to compete frequently. USEF asks that horses are assessed regularly for signs of discomfort related to overuse.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 17, 2025
Vanessa Coleman has been named chief competition and operating officer of Equestrian Events Inc., which supports the development of equestrian sports by staging sporting events at the highest level, including eventing’s Defender Kentucky 5-star.
EEI, which also presents the Cosequin® Lexington CCI4*-S and Kentucky International CSI5* show jumping competition on the same April weekend as the 5-star event, attracts nearly 90,000 spectators.
Vanessa, who has a bachelor’s degree in business from Lindenwood University in St. Louis, worked as an accountant, ran her own barn and organized a local horse trial.
Vanessa Coleman
She volunteered annually at the Kentucky Three-Day Event for her mother, who was the chief steward of horse inspection. In 2008, Janie Atkinson, director of the event at that time, asked Vanessa to help with the fixture, and she has been on staff ever since.
Vanessa, who had been senior director of competition for EEI since 2013, is responsible for overseeing all competitive aspects of its events, including coordination with contractors and volunteers. Before that, she served as director of ticketing and transitioned to lead sponsorship in 2012.
Vanessa, who tries to give back to the sport by volunteering and supporting other local events as much as she can, was an eventer most of her life and still owns two horses. She and her husband, Anthony, have a daughter, Alexa.
“Few people in our sport are as universally liked and respected as Vanessa,” said EEI Chief Executive Officer Molly Day.
“Vanessa has played an integral role in the Kentucky Three-Day Event achieving its position of worldwide prominence, and EEI is incredibly fortunate to have her as a key member of our team.”
