There’s nothing quite like sports legends honoring other sports legends. It tells a story beyond individuality by instead building upon an eternal legacy of sportsmanship, passion and belief. Recently at the Preakness Stakes, legendary trainer Bob Baffert, who himself is 72, was seen kneeling in front of Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, who is nearly 18 years his senior! The moment touched many and had some fans wondering what the relationship between these two racing stalwarts is.

Both Bob Baffert and Lukas have had similar journeys in horse racing. They both began their journeys training American Quarter Horses to champion at short distances. They are now, however, both set to seek victory with their individual thoroughbreds at Preakness. D Wayne Lukas is keen to keep his title (he won in 2024 with Seize the Grey) with American Promise, while Baffert is looking to settle the ‘stakes,’ so to say, after placing fifteenth in the Kentucky Derby with Citizen Bull. Regardless, the two competitors couldn’t speak more fondly of one another.

When Bob Baffert was asked to reflect on his relationship with the now 89‑year‑old legend D. Wayne Lukas, he took us back to his own teenage years in Arizona—long before either man had tasted Triple Crown success. Baffert recalled a dusty, little-known quarter-horse track where, as a wide-eyed 17-year-old, he first crossed paths with Lukas and the imposing rig of trailers and bloodstock that seemed to arrive overnight.

“That was the first time I saw Wayne,” Baffert said. “I grew up in Arizona and he came in this little track we used to run at, and he came in there with these fancy trailers and these horses and won all these races, and you know, it was just a tiny track in the middle of nowhere.”

By the early 1970s, Lukas had already notched multiple American Quarter Horse championships, and within a decade he’d become one of the most dominant trainers in Thoroughbred racing—amassing over 4,800 wins and five Eclipse Awards. Baffert himself would go on to win two Preakness titles and three Kentucky Derbies, but he’s never forgotten those first impressions.

At 89, Lukas shows no signs of slowing down—he’s the oldest trainer ever to start a horse in the Preakness, and last year’s victory with Seize the Grey marked his fifth in the second jewel of the Triple Crown. And according to Baffert’s fond recollections, it’s precisely Lukas’s razor-sharp instincts—and their shared roots in the quarter‑horse world—that keep their competitive friendship as strong as ever.

2024 Preakness Stakes winning trainer D. Wayne Lukas on his relationship with Bob Baffert

When asked about his relationship with Bob Baffert ahead of this year’s Preakness Stakes, D. Wayne Lucas’ answer highlighted their shared background and beginnings. “Well, we both came from the quarter horse world,” Lucas said of Baffert, “and you know, he followed me. I’m probably fifteen years in front of him… We’ve had a friendship for a long time. We train similarly; our horses get into the race usually outpace, or near the pace or on the pace. He trains the same way. We have a tendency to buy a lot of the same horses with the same look, the same conformation. There are a lot of things besides our friendship that have us locked together.”

It should be noted that while Baffert has more titles in the Triple Crown races than Lukas, he didn’t let this cloud his humility when speaking to a man he looked up to as a young kid, and Lukas’ answer shows that he values this. Baffert also commented on how Lukas isn’t afraid to run his horses in the Triple Crown, saying, “He’s not afraid to run them. Lots of trainers are afraid to run their horses; the Triple Crown races too close”. This has been a big area of contention in these races for some time, considering the injuries many horses endure due to the proximity of the races, but Bob Baffert and Lukas, being of the old school style, seem to like the challenge.

It’s sweet to note that in both Bob Baffert’s and D. Wayne Lukas’ answers, they segue back into the sport rather than really commenting on the friendship, which, from the picture, is clear, but friendships built on a shared passion are truly special and this seems to be precisely that!